Author Archive

Gorgeously Green: Becoming Aware

Wednesday, May 21st, 2008

I am so excited to begin diving into a new book this week and to discuss how we begin our journey towards being more green. Our book this month is, “Gorgeously Green,” by Sophie Uliano.

I am a newbie to green living, but have been trying to do more things that will have a more positive impact on our earth. It has also been important to me to share this with my children as well. We are always talking about why we do the things we do and how we are trying to do our part to make the world a little better. Right now, I think Ethan thinks everyone is like this, but someday I hope he realizes how different we really are and how much we cared about the planet we are living on.

In the book, the first step towards leading a green lifestyle is simply becoming aware of what you are doing and how it is impacting the world around you. It sounds simple enough, but thinking back to my youth, I can recall many stupid things I did that have impacted our earth in a negative way. I became more aware of what I was doing after I had children and also when looking for ways to save our family money.

In the first chapter, the author suggests setting an intention towards becoming green. Set your intentions in the present tense and make a commitment to yourself. Some recommended statements are:

“I am ready and willing to make the changes necessary to live a sustainable lifestyle.”

“I give and receive only the best.”

“I am living in a way that reflects my deepest values. I’m walking the walk.”

“I’m moving mindfully through my day and making choices that are having a positive impact on the environment.”

“I’m enjoying living with a deep sense of purpose.”

Part of my going green experience has just been trying to get my head out of the sand. All my life, I have kind of lived in my own little bubble of happiness and am blissfully unaware of the bad things that happen in the world. I rarely watch the news, I flip to the fun sections in the paper, I am not passionate about politics…shame on me, right?

When I had our children though, suddenly everything seemed heightened for me. “Why is the world like this? What can I do to make the world better? How can I do my part?” While I might be unaware of many things, I am slowly coming out of la-la land and exploring the world around me.

I can identify with the statement, “I’m enjoying living with a deep sense of purpose.” My purpose right now is to be a good mother, a good steward of my money, and to share and do what I can to help other people do the same things. What I could add to that is to make more green choices in my life and pull my head up out of the sand and do things that will have a positive impact on the earth. For me. For my children. For their children.

Sound Off: What are you more aware of now that you have become a mom? What do you find is your purpose at this moment in time?

PS- Once again, I am having problems posting pictures on Blogger. Grrrr….

Old School Baking Day

Tuesday, May 20th, 2008

My sweet little bread machine kicked the can last week after two years of hard work in our family. I used my bread machine two to three times a week so it does a lot of work for us and I am missing it terribly. I got mine at a garage sale and I just can’t see paying for it retail, but my husband is insisting that we just buy one new this time. I don’t know though… I think I might check the thrift store a few times before buying one.

In the meantime, we are using our trusty stand mixer fitted with the dough hook to do the bread. It has been so long since I have made bread this way that I feared that my attempt might fail miserably.

Ethan happened to watch Sesame Street though and they showed the process of making bread so he asked me if we could do this together. Since we were having sandwiches that night, I told him he could help me make the hamburger buns for our dinner.

We let the stand mixer do the mixing for us and then we pulled the dough out to do the kneading. This dough reminds me of play dough so it is the perfect dough to use with kids. It is not sticky and doesn’t even require a floured surface. Ethan mastered the art of kneading and enjoyed working his frustrations out on the dough. Pound, pound, pound, knead, knead, knead…

I cut the dough into nine pieces and then Ethan shaped them and put them on the stone. We talked about how the bread needs to rise and rest while we tidied the house up before dinner. After a little rising, I slid the stone into the oven for fifteen minutes of cooking.


Despite being really out of practice, the rolls turned out beautifully. Ethan pronounced the dinner, “The best dinner in the entire world.”

A successful mission completed!

The Bad Side of Gardening

Tuesday, May 20th, 2008

Our neighbors have the most beautiful yard on the block. The landscaping is impeccable and they are always working on their lawn. I can see them slaving away while I sit in my little lawn chair in my garage…which is why they have an amazing lawn and I have a so-so lawn.

Last week, I headed over there to chat with them and saw them sitting in a huge pile of overturned dirt that they had dug up. They were sifting through the dirt for roots to a plant that had been planted there ten years ago. The family had hired a landscaper to come and do their landscaping and he had the perfect plant for the side of their house…something called the Chameleon Plant (read another bloggers experience with it here).

Over the years, this plant has taken over their beautiful yard so my neighbor searched on the internet to see if she could find out more about this plant. Guess what? It is one of the most invasive plants in the world. So invasive, in fact, that New Zealand has banned this plant from their country.

Desperate to remove this plant from their yard, she has been in contact back and forth with the New Zealand government and they recommended she do the best she could to remove it. The roots to this plant can be planted deeply though and so they are trying to find all of the roots and are burning them because they don’t want to put them in the landfill.

When she was browsing at a flea market, this past summer, she noticed that same plant was being sold in buckets for $6.99. She went over and spoke to the person that was selling it and asked if they knew anything about the plant, “It is a great ground cover,” they said. She promptly informed them just how wrong they were.

I have heard of other plants taking over people’s lawns too. Have you ever had any plant that you have planted that you would tell someone NEVER to plant? What has been your experience with invasive plants?

Now the good sides of gardening… Here are some great gardening reads to help you with your gardens this year:

Miles of Aisles of Chemicals- Except Now Their Green (@ Garden Rant)

BFP Garden Project: The $29 Kick-off (@ Blueprint for Financial Prosperity)

When Can I Harvest My Basil? (@ The Kitchn)

Free Mulch! (@ Frugal Upstate)

Garden Entertaining Tips (@ The Kitchn)

High Food Prices Lead to Growth in Backyard Gardens (@ ParentDish)

Focus on Garden Flowers (@ Chocolate on Cranium)

Food Gardening Is On The Rise (@ You Grow Girl)

Deck Makeover (@ CraftyPod)

Natural & Green Lawn Care (@ Nature Moms Blog)

Tips for Improving Your Garden Soil (@ Blissfully Domestic)

A Beginner’s Guide to Organic Gardening (@ Mad About Martha)

Top 15 Frugal Gardening Tips (@ Thrifty Mommy)

The Makings of a Frugal Garden (@ Keeper of the Home)

Redbox Code 05.19.08

Monday, May 19th, 2008

Today’s free code for a Redbox movie is EA5636. This code is good for one free movie and you can use it until midnight tonight. Enjoy a free family movie together!

Side Notes:

– If you want to rent more than one movie for free, bring more than one credit/debit card. You can use the same promotional code, you just will need different cards to charge it to. The charge will be zero as long as you return your movie on time for the next day.

– When entering in your free movie code, you need to enter it FIRST before picking the movie. On the very first screen, click the, “Rent with Promo.” Enter in the above code and then make your selection- the amount should then total zero.

Something Exciting Is Happening

Monday, May 19th, 2008

We are trying to complete our homework for starting kindergarten and this week Ethan got his teeth cleaned. Ethan’s teeth looked beautiful, but we discovered a special secret that his mouth had been keeping… Ethan has his first loose tooth. He was so excited to tell me that his tooth was loose and I told him that I had a special book that I had been saving just for this occasion. Hidden in the depths of my closet, I have had a special tooth fairy set that we could get out when this momentous occasion happened.

As we sat down to read the book, Ethan admitted that he didn’t know which tooth felt loose. He showed me that he couldn’t wiggle it (wiggling side to side) and I showed him that you wiggle your tooth from front to back. The look of amazement on his face was priceless, “OH!!!!!!” he said, and a look of excitement and fear passed over his eyes. While Ethan sat by me and wiggled, I read to him from this wonderful book that explains the entire process of loose teeth. It covers all of the bases like why we lose our teeth, a pillow with a pocket for the tooth fairy, a special chart that you can fill out for each of your children and save for their baby books, and what to do if you (gasp) lose your tooth.

And then we practiced.

And practiced. Then, just to make sure this all will really happen, Ethan wished on an imaginary star that he would lose his tooth so the tooth fairy would come to visit him.

I have a feeling that it won’t be long! Maybe I should review the tooth fairy economics that we discussed earlier this year. Yes, something exciting is happening over here!

Sound Off: Did you do anything special to make this event even more special?

Old-Fashioned Spaghetti & Meatballs (And How to Eat It)

Monday, May 19th, 2008

With my grocery dollars screaming for mercy right now, I am trying to focus more on eating more budget-friendly fare. My grocery lists have shifted from what we want to eat to what is on sale and what is going to give us the best bang for our buck. A manager’s special on a meatloaf mix of meat dictated what we would be dining on this week…a good old fashioned plate of spaghetti and meatballs.

I really love my spaghetti and meatballs recipe, but I saw a recipe for spaghetti and meatballs in an AllRecipes Dinner Tonight Cookbook (picked up at our local thrift store for $2) and knew that I had to try this recipe.

I followed all of the directions except that I prefer to bake my meatballs rather than fry them. It is easier clean-up for me and healthier for our family. You can bake the meatballs in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for fifteen minutes and then I gave them a little dip in the sauce to take on some of those flavors.

This dish is perfection. I still prefer my meatball recipe over this one, but the sauce recipe wins hands down. This made a large batch of sauce (enough for approximately six to eight servings) and cost about $2.33 to make the sauce. The meatloaf mix was on sale for $2.09 and I used a box of pasta that I had purchased on sale for $.89. Total cost of the meal $5.31 or approximately $.89 per serving (if serving six generous portions).

I made a double batch of the meatballs and we will be having meatball subs on homemade sub rolls this week and leftovers another day. I just love food that can be served over and over again!

Italian Spaghetti Sauce With Meatballs

1# lean ground beef (ground turkey, meatloaf mix, or turkey sausage)
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons olive oil (omit if you are baking these)
3/4 cup chopped onion (we omitted because we don’t like onions)
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
2 (28 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes, undrained
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 bay leaf (I omitted because we didn’t have any)
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
3/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

To make the meatballs, in a large bowl, combine ground beef, breadcrumbs, parsley, Parmesan, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, garlic powder, and egg. Mix well and form into 30 balls. In a large skillet, cook meatballs in two tablespoons hot oil over medium-high heat seven minutes or until browned; remove from skillet and drain.

To make sauce, saute onion and garlic in 1/4 cup olive oil until onion is translucent. Stir in tomatoes, salt, sugar, and bay leaf. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer one hour and thirty minutes. Stir in tomato paste basil, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and meatballs and simmer thirty more minutes. Discard bay leaf. Serve over spaghetti.

Spaghetti and meatballs is a family favorite in our house. Now let us show you how to eat it properly and our sweet little Emily will demonstrate.

Emily just loves to eat this, but she likes to have the long noodles for slurping, not short and stumpy noodles. I can understand this, but… She usually ends up looking like this.

Then we have to hold our noodles and balance them at the very top of our head in our hair. Is it sufficiently rubbed into our forehead and hair yet? If you can complete this trick, you can move on to the next step.

Be sure to get your entire face in there so it looks like this.
And don’t let the face outshine your toes. After all, eating like a monkey is the Clark way.

Dinner and a show! Two for the price of one!

Next Book for Discussion… Gorgeously Green

Friday, May 16th, 2008


There was some interest in exploring another book together and there has also been some interest in discussing more green ideas on the site. I thought I would pair the two and we could work our way through the book, “Gorgeously Green,” by Sophie Uliano.

I received this book from Harper Collins and I really liked the ideas and the message that you could begin starting your green journey with just one simple change. I think many people are scared of the total overhaul process, but we could all make a few simple changes to better our earth for ourselves and for our children.

We can start our discussion next week, but maybe you might like to put a hold on this book at your local library? In the meantime, the author has set up a website and a Gorgeously Green Girls Club that you can join to help teach you simple steps towards an earth-friendly life.

I want this to be a fun and friendly discussion. I know that not everyone is going to be on the same page with a lot of this stuff, but I want this to be a supportive place where you can share freely without judgment! Remember, many of us are still learning and exploring our green sides.

I am looking forward to a great discussion!

Sound Off: What earth-friendly ideas are you really interested in exploring? What changes have you already made in your own life?

Freebie Friday: May 16, 2008

Friday, May 16th, 2008

As always, a big thank you to Heather, from Freebies 4 Mom, for helping compile this week’s freebies. Check out Heather’s post on The Knack for Crafty Kids and find out how you can score another Michael’s coupon. After all, can a family truly have too much craft supplies…. We won’t let my husband answer that!

Health & Beauty

Ban Deodorant (Walmart sample)

Food
Taco Bell Frutista Freeze (free with coupon, print more at Coupons.com)
Corazonas Chips (free with coupon)

Entertainment
TV Guide 1-yr. Subscription (offered by Rewards Gold)
Columbia University Music Lab (free downloads for taking survey)
Nine Inch Nails free album download “The Slip”
Barenaked Ladies- Snacktime download (I am so excited they came out with a kid’s album!!)
Motor Trend Magazine (2 year subscription)
Garden Design Magazine (digital subscription)
Boating World Magazine

Home & Garden
Viva Paper Towel (Walmart sample)
May 18 – Free Sundaes at Walmart 12-5pm
May 21 – Baskin-Robbins Bump Day 11am-10pm (limited locations)

MomAdvice Weekly Recap 05.16.08

Friday, May 16th, 2008

This was an exciting week for me as I have finally hit the landmark of my 1,000th post! In case you missed it, please drop by and say hi. I would love to hear your thoughts on what you would like to see on here so that I have material for another 1,000 posts…and hopefully more.

We are still struggling with technical problems on the forum and review site. We will let everyone know when we are able to get everything back up and rolling again. I apologize for all of the troubles and know that we are doing our best to restore everything to its former glory.

Featured Article:

The Benefits of Line Drying Your Clothes- There must be something great about drying your clothing outside as it seems all of the laundry detergents aim to get that fresh smell in their detergents. I see promises of fragrances filled with the smell of mountain freshness and April showers. What is not to love about that? Did you know that it is possible to achieve that just by line drying your clothing outside? With a simple clothesline and some clothespins, you can save your family money and achieve the scent that every detergent company is trying to capture… Continue Reading

Blog Entries for Fun & Discussion:

There are Holes in My House Where My Clutter Used to Be –This corner of my garage has been housing our old dishwasher since we replaced it this fall. It was one of those things that needed to be taken care of, but I kept procrastinating on it. As long as I could get my car parked and open our doors comfortably, did it really matter that it was sitting there?…. Continue Reading

Rainy Day Activity: Popcorn Fun It’s raining, it’s pouring…what is a desperate mom to do? My popcorn tub came to my rescue this week and I have pulled it into our guest bathroom so the kids could have a blast in it, with easy clean-up for me…..Continue Reading

Creating Morning Rituals Today is going to be our last day in the book, “How Did I Get So Busy.” We have had such a great discussion from this book and I feel like I have made a lot of positive changes by sharing through this format and from encouragement from you. It has definitely been a positive transformation for me and I hope that you have gotten as much from it as I have….Continue Reading

Don’t miss a single entry and subscribe to my feeds! We have made it easy for you to do it- you are just a click away!

Giving Away the Mother Load!

We hope to return to the land of the giveaways next week. We apologize for our technical difficulties!

Featured Recipe of the Week:

Simple Oatmeal & Chocolate Chip Muffins

Play it Again, Momma!

Did you miss these posts the first time around? Here they are for your reading pleasure!

Leaner Ground Beef for Less

Ding-Dong: Did Someone Order Groceries?

A Few Words About Convenience Foods

Make Your Own Flavored Creamers

Not enough of me yet?

WSBT: Getting Ready for Vacations

Frugal Hacks: Keeping Summer Essentials Handy

Blissfully Domestic: Reclaiming Myself, One Day at a Time

Michiana Family Magazine: Gearing Up for Summer

Kenmore: Make Meal Planning Easier

FAQ for Amy

Bad Week or Why I Couldn’t Be a Single Mom

Thursday, May 15th, 2008

Editor’s Note– I actually posted this post and then deleted it because I was a little embarrassed about my whiny tone. I got some emails that people were looking for this entry in their feeds so it is back up here…only read this if you can handle all the whining and moaning. Seriously, WHINING and MOANING. You have been warned!

My husband has been out of town since Monday and I thought I could do this on my own. I envisioned our fun-filled days and evenings that would be spent painting my toes and catching up on my reading.

Day One– The roofing construction begins on our home. A new roof has been in the works since we moved into this house. I never thought of how this construction would impact our day. No naps for kids means a tired mommy and grumpy children.

Day Two– My son comes down with a nasty case of pink eye. He can’t go to school for the next two days until we get it cleared up.

Day Three– Rained all day, which leaves our house quiet. Emily wakes up with a snotty nose and Ethan’s eye is gooped beyond recognition. The only thing I have to look forward to is my girlfriend coming for the evening. We cook. We clean. We prepare for her visit…she has an unexpected conflict and can’t come. I think we scared her off with all of our illnesses.

Day Four– Our gutters turn up missing (after being removed from our house for the roofing job). I have to file a police report and talk to a detective. I feel ridiculous reporting a case of missing gutters and embarrassed that I am wasting their time with something so trivial. They were our gutters though so I file my little plea that they figure out who the culprit is.

Day Five– Emily is sicker by the minute and wakes up with a 102 degree fever. I get a late appointment at the doctor and he tells me she has a bad case of strep throat.

Day Six– I can only imagine how great the day will be putting drops in Ethan’s eye three times a day, distributing penicillin to Emily and medicine to keep down her fever, as I swipe her little nose. I feel so bad for them both and am feeling blue myself.

My days are filled with nursing sick children and running myself into the ground. The evenings are spent playing catch up on the household chores and laundry. Fabulous dinners at home were replaced with two trips to the fast food joint so that I could keep my sanity. No painting of nails or relaxation in the evening, in fact, I didn’t even blow dry my hair this week because there was no time.

The final nail in the coffin is calling the bed and breakfast, where we have reserved our room for our anniversary this weekend, and letting them know we can’t come. One case of pink eye and one case of strep seal the deal.

How do single moms of the world do it? I humbly bow to them because I am a blubbering mess right now. I am so ashamed that I couldn’t do it for one week. I really believed it was going to be a great week, but it seemed I have a little too much confidence.