Today we are back to the everyday morning routine, and Thade is very ready to get back to preschool. Both of the boys were wide awake and ready to go at 6:45 a.m. Dylan and I will be busy running errands while Thade is having fun at his schools belated Christmas party. Today we’ll also be taking James lunch at work. It looks like it is going to be a busy Monday!
What do you have planned today? Are your kiddos back to school too?
This week our MOPS meeting focused on helpful tips to make the most out of your family budget. One of my favorite ways to save is by making many of our favorite breakfast items from scratch. One of my time savers is to prep them for the freezer to be ready for when we need them. I save a little time and money this way too.
I thought that Saturday sounded like the perfect day to get the freezer restocked with a few of these items.
Since Thade has been on a pancake kick lately, I knew we needed a few extra pancakes for the freezer.
This time I made a triple batch. Once the kiddos were finished with their pancakes at breakfast, I individually wrapped the pancakes, and then they are off to the freezer for future breakfasts. I know these will come in pretty handy when we are scrambling for breakfast before Thade is off to preschool.
After my last batch of Salmon cakes, I noticed that I was running pretty low on Bread Crumbs too.
I always have a collection of Bread heels, and hamburger buns in the freezer waiting to be made into crumbs.
First I let the bread thaw just a bit, and then I toast the bread in the oven at a low temperature. Once the bread is nice and toasty, then it is off to the mini chopper to be blended into crumbs. I fill a big bowl, and grab my measuring cup. I then fill sandwich bags with the homemade bread crumbs. I like to fill the sandwich bags with one cup of the crumbs, and after that they are ready for the freezer.
I thought the freezer could use one more item and Waffles were on the menu. I had enough eggs on hand to make a batch.
After all of the Waffles were finished, I wrapped them in Plastic Wrap and stacked them inside the freezer for breakfast or afternoon snacks. They are delicious toasted in the toaster with butter and maple syrup.
What to you like to keep stocked in your freezer?
One of my projects for the year was to green my driving routine by driving less. I tracked my days monthly, and when I looked back for the year, I noticed that I started tracking my no driving days in July. I have exactly six months of no driving data to share.
In the month of December I didn’t drive or ride in a car for 8 days out of the month. Not too bad for the last month of the year. Now for all of those no driving days:
July 08: I had 11 no driving days
August 08: I had 10 no driving days
September 08: I had 5 no driving days (Thade started school this month)
October 08: I had 4 no driving days
November 08: I had 8 no driving days
December 08: Again, I had 8 no driving days
That gives me a grand total of: 46 no driving days!
That means that out of six months I didn’t drive, or ride in a car for over a month and a half. I think that is pretty good, and pretty green too.
I had a lot of fun on my no driving days too, and I found many activities that we could walk to, that was near our home. We spent Wednesday and Saturday mornings walking to the Farmer’s market, and we even walked our bills and outgoing mail to the Post Office. Thade and I would walk to our former Church on Sunday’s too. Both of the kiddos enjoyed the extra walks, and getting to know our town better too.
In the new year I hope to keep up with the no driving days, and keep track for the entire year. I can’t wait to see and share the results.
I did a little bit better in December. I saved $8.00 by using coupons in December. I tracked my savings for the entire year and I ended up with a total of $182.04, not too shabby.
I hope to save even more in 2009! Happy shopping and saving with those coupons.
Yay it is a brand new year, and I’ve got a brand new dinner menu too. Here is my menu plan for January:
Time to get in the kitchen and get to cooking!