Give and Take

So, this past weekend was a doozy!  Saturday morning, the Dude and I were up bright and early to take part in a community clean-up project organized by Wild Goose Creative, and we took part along with some other members of our beloved Hudson Street Hooligans, the best Crew supporter's group out there.  I swept, picked up trash, sprayed for weeds, and painted and painted and painted.  I ended up helping some kids who were there volunteering with their parents-go figure, right?  It was great fun, I was absolutely filthy by the time I got home.  But it's for a good cause-cleaning up an abandoned lot, and making it pretty with some gorgeous artwork!  Check it out at the corner of Summit and Hudson in Columbus.  First pic has the Dude up on some scaffolding, second pic is the handiwork of Tim Lai, and was posted on the Facebook page for the HSH.

Saturday night was a rarity in my world-girl's night out!  We met for dinner and 'ritas at a local Mexican restaurant, then headed off to the Crew game.  I'm not sure everyone had the same level of enjoyment for the game that I did, but we all had a good time being together.

However, all the time outside on Saturday, combined with my forgetting to take my allergy medicine that day, left me feeling like someone stuffed rocks up my nose, then hit me in the face with a cricket bat.  However, because I am a sucker nice aunt, I kept my word to one of my nieces and spent the morning making blueberry muffins with her.  It wasn't nearly as time consuming as I had anticipated it to be, and a good time was had by all.  Here's the goods:

For muffins:

1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 t. salt

2 t. baking powder

1/3 c. vegetable oil

1 egg

1/3 c. milk

1 c. blueberries (fresh or frozen work; if frozen, thaw first)

For crumb topping:

1/2 c. sugar

1/3 c. wheat flour

1/4 c. butter, softened and cubed

1 1/2 t. cinnamon

Heat oven to 400 degrees, either grease or line muffin cups.

Combine flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder for muffins.  In separate bowl, beat egg gently, then add oil and milk to egg.  Mix slightly, then add to dry goods.  Mix together, adding a bit more milk if needed to achieve a good consistency.  Fold in blueberries.  At this point, you can either divide the batter between 12 muffin cups for smaller muffins, or fill 8 cups to the very top to get larger muffins.  For the topping, mix together all ingredients with a fork until a crumbly texture has been achieved.  Sprinkle it over the muffin tops before baking.  Bake for about 20 minutes-watch them towards the end, our batch got close to burning.  These were generally a hit with everyone, except for my junior chef, who learned a valuable lesson in mixing thoroughly.  She got a mouthful of salty muffin.  :-)

I did get some reward for all of my giving-a sympathetic sister who folded my laundry for me (woot!), and a family friend who brought us all some lunch.  I normally feel bad about taking things like that from others, but not this time!  

A Confession, Cheap Care, and Clean Carpets

It's an early, rainy, blessedly cool morning here.  The Big Dude left for work, the Little Dude is still asleep, and it's just me, some coffee, the Cooking Channel (my new addiction-they have Julia and Nigella!), and the cat.  So I'm going to take advantage of the quiet to plan out some cooking for the week, and my grocery list.

I do a kind of modified stockpiling-I don't have the room, or the desire, to have a fully stocked basement to last me through the zombie apocalypse.  But I do like to know that I have a few jars of pasta sauce in the cabinet.  So my rules are that I have to have room to store it, and I have to keep it organized so I know exactly what I have at a glance.  The first rule was put into place when I first told the Big Dude I wanted to coupon and stock up on the cheap.  He was for it, but he's been exposed to TLC's Extreme Couponing, so he needed reassurance that I wouldn't set up shelving in our living room.  So food stays in the kitchen, and it's all hidden in cabinets.  Bathroom supplies are either under the sink, or on a shelf in the linen closet.  The closest I've come to "extreme" with the storage is putting Jeffrey's extra diapers and a couple of packs of TP under his crib.  There's a skirt to hide it, so no one can tell it's there.

Here's my confession-the second rule, keep it organized so I can see it all in a glance, came about because I confused several bottles of body wash for shampoo and conditioner.  Thinking that I only had a few bottles of body wash, and knowing that my goal was to stock us up for about 6 months, I bought more.  I now have 15 bottles of body wash, which was a bit beyond my goal.  It did make me feel kind of hoardish, but at least it's something we'll use, and it won't go bad in the meantime.  But lesson learned-know your contents!

In the course of stocking my various shower supplies, I realized that I hate how expensive face wash, masks, and scrubs are.  So I took to the internet for a cheap, natural solution.  And I learned that baking soda is my friend!  A simple face wash is 1 T. of honey and 1/2 T. of baking soda.  Mix, apply to damp skin.  The honey will both soothe and clean (it's antibacterial-who knew?), while the baking soda will exfoliate.  I wouldn't recommend making a large batch, I just mix it in the palm of my hand.  And if you want a moisturizing mask, combine 1 c. plain yogurt with 1/2 c. rolled (non-instant) oatmeal.  Apply to your face, leave on for 15 minutes, rinse.  No need to wash after, and it's safe for sensitive skin.

As far as body scrubs go, I'm super lazy and usually just rub in some baking soda straight.  But if you want a more spa-like treatment, combine 1/4 c. oil (olive is what I tried), 1/8 c. coarse brown sugar, and 1/8 c. salt (kosher works well).  You can add an essential oil if you wish, but take care to not let the essential oil get on your skin without it being combined in the scrub.  Trust me, you don't want a swollen, peeling face because you got it on your fingers then scratched your chin.  This could be made ahead and stored in a jar.  If you have a sunburn, eczema, or other skin issues, leave out the salt and use 1/4 c. of the brown sugar.

Finally-today's Groupon has me all excited.  It's carpet cleaning!  Two rooms, a child's room, and a hallway, cleaned and stain treated, for $47!  It's for the Columbus area only, but I'm totally getting this.  It would clean and stain treat my entire apartment!  It's good for purchase through Thursday, but don't let this one slip by.

We all cheer for the yellow soccer team!

First off, I hope you all had a great weekend!  We took the little dude to COSI on Friday night, he was thrilled by it all.  Saturday we helped my sister, bro-in-law, and 4 nieces sort boxes for their upcoming move in a month.  And Sunday…well, that was a rare treat for myself and B.-a Columbus Crew game, totally child free!

If you haven’t been to a Crew game, I cannot emphasize how much fun they are.  We’ve been season ticket holders for a few years (B. and I share a seat, and take turns going), and I’ve never felt it’s been a waste of money.  It manages to be both family-friendly and party-friendly.  And, since we were childless, we partied.  There were margaritas and nachos, and lots of cheering and chanting with the supporters’ groups-Hudson Street Hooligans (our group of choice), Crew Union, and La Turbina Amarilla.  The Crew won with a spectacular 4-1, and there were fireworks after the game.  We couldn’t resist a detour on the way home to Sonic.  I had to get my vanilla coke on!

But let’s say you want to take the kids.  What’s there for a family to do at the games?  There’s a large playground, a bounce house, lots of areas for an impromptu soccer game, and different activities from game to game.  I’ve seen physical fitness challenges, bands, face painting, and free food from local restaurants.  If you have a very active toddler who just won’t sit still, you have my sympathy, because mine won’t sit through a game.  You also have the party deck!  It’s a large stage area on the field, fenced in with its own food stand and restrooms, and it’s perfect to let an active kid run around while mom and dad keep an eye on the game.  We’re down there so often, the security guards and concessions workers know our son by name.

There’s also various ticket deals throughout the season, as advertised on The Crew’s website.  There was recently one that included a soda, hot dog, and chips with your ticket, at a great price.  Check out The Crew, and come see the hardest working team in America!

Speaking of family fun...

I forgot to mention in my last post (this is K, by the way!), this Friday is COSI's Family Friday Night!  COSI will have extended hours on June 24th from 5pm to 9pm, at a reduced rate of $9 per person!  This gets you all of their permanent exhibits, plus a screening of Waking the T-Rex on their big screen in digital and 3D.  Admission plus one movie is normally $21.25 adults, and $16.25 kids, so this is a big savings!  Current members can get the movie at a discounted rate of $3, instead of the usual $5.50.  COSI is normally really expensive for a family trip, so this is a great way to explore the museum for a fraction of the cost!  Also, kids 24 months and under are free, and there's a great play area for little ones.  COSI offers this discounted rate on the last Friday of every month, and always includes a movie.

Making room in a frugal lifestyle

As someone who is still pretty new to the concept of living frugally, I’ve been challenged to find ways to save money and live simply, but still have wiggle room for fun.  We’re blessed to live in Columbus, Ohio, which offers a great variety of free or economical activities for families, and we definitely take advantage of them.  We hit up local parks, use the fantastic libraries, and take advantage of attractions with reasonably priced family passes-hello, Columbus Zoo!  While I do love being frugal (weird, I know), we have one area where we regularly splurge, and that is the North Market.

We go as a family every Sunday, have lunch together, and buy some groceries.  Even though it’s spending a bit more than at the grocery store, we really feel strongly that we’re doing what is best for ourselves by buying fresh and local produce, milk, and meat.  We have our weekly “steak Sunday” tradition, so we always buy a couple of fillets from Bluescreek Farms, along with the occasional batch of meatloaf, or pack of pepper bacon.  At The Greener Grocer, we get our weekly vegetables and fruit, as well as milk from Snowville Creamery.  And if you haven't tried Snowville, I promise you, you won't ever want to go back to the store brand!  We like personally knowing the people who provide us our food, and knowing the processes behind what they provide.  We think it all tastes better.  And we love knowing we are helping the local economy in our own small way. 

Another big attraction that the North Market holds for us are the merchants themselves.  We didn’t realize this until recently, but we are seen as regulars.  The wonderful Smith family who run the farm and the meat stand (hi, Cheryl and David!) have actually held back our regular order for us on Sundays, and have it wrapped and ready to go.  The employees at Pastaria and Heil's Deli know our preferences, and always make sure to tuck in extra napkins and flatware for the Little Dude’s benefit.  Other employees recognize us on sight, and make a point out of saying hello to our son, giving him stickers, and being as friendly as possible.  If we have guests from out of the area, the North Market is where we take them!

By being frugal in other areas of our lives, we have the ability to splurge on something meaningful to us, while having a bit left over to spare.  We’ve given up fast food, don’t buy soda unless we have guests who may want it, shop with coupons (and yes, I keep a SMALL stockpile), buy used, save for bigger purchases, etc., etc.  My point with this is that it is possible to be frugal, but to still have a life.  It’s just a matter of finding out what your priorities are.