Schedules: When Good Competes with Good

Are we too busy?
Should we slow down?
What can we do?
How can we do it?

Let's talk priorities. . .again

Somehow, as modern advancements have made our life physically easier and less time-consuming, we have over-booked our new-found freedom.

Rare are times for swinging, or laying on the grass watching the

clouds float by (and discovering objects in them), or just day-dreaming.

When was the last time you took time to do nothing? Do you miss it? 

Frazzled parents hustle frazzled children between back-to-back activities— too often organized activities with rigid requirements, expenses and expectations---Activities that are no longer leisure fun but stressful commitments.

Rare are the neighborhood block and backyard games; the pick-up games in the middle of a street; exhilarating and unstructured recreation for the simple fun of it.        

Way back in the "good old days" children were automatically a part of the family work force. There were cows to milk, pigs to slop, gardens to tend, and multiple other tasks and responsibilities, many needing to be accomplished before the “five mile walk to school in knee-deep snow.” The need for heavy physical labor left little room or time for anxiety and stress. They still found time for simple fun.

Unfortunately, in too many ways, we have come a long way. Our myriad responsibilities rarely include providing the actual necessities to sustain life. Automation and modernization has given us lots of free time. The remaining necessary chores require little of us physically. Our brains are now taxed much more than our bodies. Not a healthy balance.

Our amusement and entertainment needs are becoming more and more extravagant.

Activities, events, and things that were previously luxuries or reserved for special occasions are now considered entitlements. Preschoolers in caps and gowns may be cute, but when special occasions are made special too soon, what is left for the traditional mileposts of life?

Our married children are very active in church and in their community. They read their Scriptures and have daily prayer. They set aside one evening each week just for the family, and their children are involved in extra church activities according to their ages. The boys are active in scouting.

They also take music lessons, play recreational sports and are involved in their school activities. They have maximum homework and minimal chores. Everything they are doing is good. Most things are even very, very good. They are productive.

But, their chores, their homework, their commitments are not just tightly scheduled but actually booked solid with very few unaccounted for minutes.

What happened to time for day dreaming? Cloud watching? Spontaneous fun? Leisurely meals together?  A real meal together at all?


There are no one-size-fits-all answers to simplifying family time. Tomorrow I'll give you a few possibilities to try on for your size or that of your family's.


Until then, here is some food for thought.

Choosing good versus evil is obvious. Choosing good versus good is not.
Can too much of a good thing become bad?
Have we become caught in a thick web of thin things?
Can we slow down before we stretch ourselves to the breaking point?
Are our priorities in order?

While the answers are apparent and elementary, the slowing down may seem impossible.

In spite of what we know of the unimaginable hardships of those of previous generations, it has been said that we, in our time, are facing much greater challenges. Our battles are not of enduring physical labors and trials. Our battles are much more insidious, much more horrendous. Battles for our families. Battles for our very souls.

I wish I had exact and automatically successful how-to’s for you but I don’t. There are no one-size-fits-all answers. I do know where to search however, and so do you. Remember, with God, nothing is impossible.

Excerpted from a Simply Gail column in DSM.
http://www.desertsaintsmagazine.com/magazine_articles/Sep2005/DSM%20Sep%202005.pdf

Halloween: Homemade, Cheap, and Creative

These costumes took so long to make, I made them wear them until
the foot bones connected to their knee bones.
I really regret that --- even to this day, 40 years later.

A long, long time ago Halloween was a fun holiday for both young and youngish kids. Costumes, for the most part, were cute and happy and imaginative, and very often homemade. Even the scary ones were only gently scary. Trick or Treating was really special when you went to a home that handed out homemade treats. We even remembered, from year to year, the homes that did that! 

In most areas, that holiday is long gone. Homemade goodies are rarely acceptable.Candy must be commercial and securely wrapped. Even then, many city hospitals provide free x-rays to further secure the safety of what has been passed out.It's sad but it's a fact of life.

TRUNK or Treat
Hopefully you live in an area where kids can still be kids---safely. Trunk or Treat has become a popular replacement in many areas. Church parking lots become the "homes" and treats are handed out from car trunks. It is even more fun if the "distributors" take the time to decorate their trunk and/or themselves. Everyone knows everyone so homemade is okay.

It took hours and hours to make the skeleton costumes above. The skeletons themselves were painstakingly cut from oil cloth (a heavy waterproof plastic-y fabric that was commonly used for tablecloths) and then even more painstakingly appliqued onto the body of the costume.  The kids loved them----for the first couple of years. Because of all the work that went into them, I continued to make them, and then their younger siblings wear them until the foot bones literally came only to their knee bones. That is sad, and kids, I am sorry.

Years later Dave and I chaperoned a costume dance. One of the guys came as a terrific skeleton. It cost him $2 and about 20 minutes time. He bought a life-size cardboard skeleton--the type with movable joints and he disjointed it by using a pair of scissors to pop out the rivets. Then, wearing a black sweat shirt and sweat pants he had someone pin the bones onto them. The bones moved with him, and even stood slightly away from him at times. It was very effective.

A Bag of Beans!
Our daughter-in-law Cheri shared this idea for a cute, simple, and inexpensive costume, which can be adapted for either children or adults. Cut arm and leg homes in a clear plastic trash bag of the appropriate size to fit the individual. Once the person is in the bag, fill it with small oval inflated balloons in a variety of colors. Gather the top opening of the bag around the wearer's neck and tie with with a piece of ribbon. If you really feel further identification is needed for this bag of jelly beans you can make a paper label and fasten it to the front of the bag.

Homemade Halloween Make-up (from Amy Dacyczyn's book, The Tightwad Gazette)

Theatrical-type Grease Paint: Combine 2 tsp. vegetable shortening, 5 tsp. cornstarch, and 1 tsp. flour. Add 2 to 3 drops glycerin (available at drugstores) for smoothness. Add food coloring as desired. Brown Grease Paint: 1 tsp. vegetable shortening, 2-1/2 tsp cocoa powder, and 2 to 3 drops of glycerin.
They can be removed with cold cream, baby oil, or vegetable shortening.


Scar Tissue is created by mixing unflavored Knox gelatin with drops of hot water to make a paste. Apply "drooping open flesh" with a spatula. Gently apply a layer of baby powder using a powder puff or cotton ball. Pain with acrylic craft paint to resemble flesh and blood.

Looking for a special treat for a special time? A friend from long ago shared the recipe for chocolate caramel apples she used to make every year for the trick-or-treaters that came to her door.  She hadn't realized just how popular they were until she discovered that the kids that use to come to her home were now driving their own kids to her door on Halloween.

Mary Sue's Chocolate Caramel Apples
(recipe makes enough for 12-24 apples, depending on their size)
small, crisp tart apples
popsicle sticks or skewers
1 cup butter or margarine
2-1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
dash salt
1 cup light corn syrup
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
2 squares (2 ounces) unsweetened chocolate
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup chopped peanuts

Wash and dry apples. Insert stick or skewer into stem end of each. Set aside. Butter baking sheets. In large, heavy saucepan, melt butter. Stir in brown sugar and salt. Add corn syrup and mix well. Gradually stir in milk; add chocolate. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, about 12-15 minutes, until candy reaches firm ball stage (245 degrees on candy thermometer). Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Dip each apple into caramel sauce, turning to coat. Scrape excess off bottom. Dip bottom in peanuts. Set on buttered pan. After they cool, slide them onto cupcake papers. The apples should be made the day they will be served.

'til we eat again,
            Simply, Gail

The 80/20 Rule.

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/

        The Simple Dollar is one of two blogs I subscribe to. Trent, the author, often has great money-saving advice, and once a week directions for a frugal meal. He has given me, the creative cheapskate, permission to include information from The Simple Dollar.
        I have excerpts from some of his posts set aside for possible inclusion when I am posting on a similar subject. I was impressed with his insights earlier this week so I'm including it here. It  is food for thought.
                                                    Simply, Gail


Financial Balance and the 80/20 Rule 

"One of the most fascinating things I’ve discovered since starting The Simple Dollar is the 80/20 rule, also known as the Pareto principle. Simply put, it means that 80% of the effects comes from 20% of the causes.

"It’s perhaps easiest to explain this principle by giving you several examples of how I see it popping up again and again in my life – and how I use my understanding of it to my advantage.

"80% of our total grocery bill comes from 20% of the items. This is actually true. If I take a typical grocery receipt and count only the top 20% of items in terms of cost, those items will make up close to 80% of our grocery bill.

"Thus, if I want to save money on my grocery bills, I need to address those items instead of the staples. Is this expensive item really the best bang for the buck here?

"You don’t save a whole lot of money by fretting over the items that cost less than a dollar. You save money by not buying (or finding a less-expensive equivalent to) the ten dollar items.

"80% of my clothes-wearing is done by 20% of my clothes. I usually rotate about five pairs of pants and about eight shirts all the time until something wears out. If I actually look through my clothes, I own substantially more shirts and more pants than that.

"So why buy them? Why own them? Eight shirts and five pants gives me forty outfits – and more if I combine some of the shirts together into a layered look.

"Simply put, I don’t buy new clothes unless they’re on sale or at a thrift store, period. If I do pick up new clothes, they will simply wait to go into the normal clothes rotation until another item wears out.

"80% of my time in my home is spent in 20% of the space. Think about it. How much time is spent in your bed? How much time is spent in your favorite chair? For most of us, that eats up the vast majority of time they’re in their living quarters.

"I spend most of my time in my home either at my desk in my office, in my bed asleep, or in the family room. I spend very little time in the rest of the house.

"The only reason to have a large home is so that you have room to store lots of stuff.

"80% of my entertainment enjoyment comes from 20% of my collection. I tend to re-read my favorite books, re-listen to my favorite albums, and re-watch my favorite television shows and movies fairly regularly. I’d far rather watch the run of Freaks and Geeks again than a new episode of most of the things currently on television. When I’m listening to music, I’m much more likely to throw on an old Pearl Jam CD than anything new.

"This realization has moved me towards trying to find free or very inexpensive ways to expose myself to new media. I use the library. I watch free samples online. I read free sample chapters of books I’m interested in.This way, I’m not actually investing my money into something that doesn’t click deeply with me.

"To put it simply, the reality of my behavior leads me to frugality. I just have to sit down, look at what I’m actually doing, and make sensible financial choices accordingly."

I have included The Simple Dollar address under the graphic.

Thanks, Trent, for allowing me to share.

Keeping Track of Canned Goods---Simply and Cheaply (Naturally)

You will totally agree with the adage 

"a picture is worth a thousand words" 

      as you attempt to decipher my written instructions! 

     Since we encourage buying foods you regularly use in quantity whenever there is a good sale --- both for economy and security ---
Once you have it, where do you put it?
     Naturally it is a good idea to rotate your supply, using the oldest ones first. With traditional shelving this becomes a little bothersome since it is much quicker and easier to put the new purchases in front.
     There are very expensive racks made especially for this purpose. At Wal-Mart they sell for well over $200, and they also take up quite a lot of space.

We prefer to spend the majority of our money on the food itself!

Here is our cheap way of keeping the cans moving, with the additional bonus of storing a lot of cans in a small amount of space.

The photo and drawing insert will help you understand what I am trying to describe.
(Except the photo shows one of our larger, earlier units that has a second leveled shelf at the top. Plus, at the time, that unit was large enough that we didn't need to stack the cans in two layers--as the illustration shows.)

Getting Started

We bought two put-it-together-yourself metal storage units. (The kind where the uprights have holes every inch or so, and you screw the shelves on to them.) They are becoming harder to find but the last time I looked the super Wal-Marts were still carrying them. They are pretty easy to find at garage sales.

The two sets must be identical in the width and length of shelves. If the heights are different that isn't an issue, as you will soon see.

The units don’t have to be the heavy duty type because, even though the weight of canned goods quickly adds up, the way the cans are stored disperses this weight evenly.

We put one unit together following the manufacturer’s instructions with the following important modifications:

• Except for the top shelf, which we installed per directions, we put all the other shelves on with the lip facing up.

• And, except for the top and bottom shelves which we installed per instructions, we also put all other shelves on at an angle, usually two screw holes lower on one side.

We added the shelves from the second unit, all lips facing up and at the same angles. So far, we haven't found a use for the four additional uprights from the second set. Any ideas, readers?

Our unit is 59 inches tall. Each shelf measures 29 inches wide by 12 inches deep. Each shelf holds 20 regular (about 15 ounce) size cans of vegetables, soups, etc— 10 in each row, two rows deep (back row against the wall, and front row in front of that)

If you space the shelves right, there is enough room between some of the shelves where you can add a second layer of cans (see diagram).

The top and bottom shelves hold jars or boxes or miscellaneous cans.

Depending on the quantity of each item I want to keep on hand, each type of canned good fills one or both of the rows of a shelf. When you remove a can from the lower end of the slant the remaining cans will move down to fill the space.

When it is time to replenish it is easy to tell, at a glance, how many cans must be purchased to keep the inventory up.

A Trick or Two
For ease, I have two additional tricks.
1) I put identifying labels on the shelves where the cans in the back row are different than those in the front row.
2) On the soup shelves, if I have a variety of flavors in the same row, I periodically turn the “faces” of the cans up you can see the different varieties.

Any Closet Can Quickly Become A Pantry
We live in a small home that has a small walk-in closet. Three of these units line this closet’s walls, without removing the rods where clothes previously hung. Cereals, pastas, crackers, etc. fill the upper shelves above the rods. This little space holds a lot of food!

These units also work well in “regular” straight-line closets or, like the one pictured, against a wall in a storage area.

Dave made our first slanted shelving from wood. When we moved the shelves had to stay with the home so we came up with this idea.  The wood ones were nice but much more labor-intensive and expensive, and didn't work any better than the metal ones.

Challenge yourself to find ways to copy-cat expensive commercial products. It is fun! There is great satisfaction in being self-reliant. As I mentioned in an earlier post, keep your thinking cap handy at all times.

From an article previously published in Simply, Gail column in Desert Saints Magazine
http://www.desertsaintsmagazine.com/magazine_articles/Jan2004/DSM%20jan%202004.pdf

When There is Need to Go the Distance---Treats that Mail Cheap

I recently read that the US Mail Service is planning on closing down 
many of its offices, cutting out Saturday delivery and adding a day to
delivery time ---- all in an effort to save money. 
It was suggested that the most effective way to get this information
out to all of their customers was by e-mail or twitter!

Mailing treats didn't use to be a bank-breaking experience. But alas, now it is. If  you have a loved one that is away from home and craving homemade goodies, here are a couple that travel well and relatively cheaply.

Popcorn Cake

One 6-ounce can of  cocktail peanuts

One 12-15 ounce package plain M&M's (you can even buy seasonal colors if it is a holiday treat)

One 16-ounce package miniature marshmallows 

1 cube margarine

Approximately 1 cup unpopped corn (enough to fill a bundt pan or an angel food-type tube pan when popped)

Melt margarine and marshmallows over low heat. Mix peanuts and M&M's into marshmallow mixture. Pour over popped corn and mix well. Butter hands generously and press mixture into well-buttered pan. Let cool in freezer to make it easier to remove from pan. Wrap tightly in clear plastic wrap. Pack in additional plain popped corn to mail.

• This also makes great popcorn balls!
• You can form the popcorn balls around peppermint candy sticks to make popcorn pops.
• Or, unwrap lollipops or suckers and form small popcorn balls around the lollipop, letting the stick handle protrude.

This recipe, or the forever popular crispy rice cereal with marshmallows treat recipe, can be formed into many shapes to fit special occasions. We've made a "plaster" cast with protruding toes. Heidi made a giant tooth and a surprise visit to the dental college on her husband's birthday. Both the plaster for the cast and the tooth enamel were made with melted white almond bark. We tinted the almond bark pink to cover the toes. 

The only hard part of this next yummy recipe, from my friend Linda, is finding the main ingredient--the corn pops.  They are not the corn pop breakfast food but the Barrel O' Fun corn pops located in the potato and corn chip aisle.


This treat is slightly sweet and slightly salty---and not too high in calories because the butter and sugar is spread over  lots of pops! 


This is one of the favorite treats of our family members away from home. It is one of my favorite treats to mail because it isn't too much heavier than air itself.


Some of our grand kids call this treat "Sugar Shrimp" and others call it "Pirates Booty."  I call it by its description: Sweet & Salty Corn Pop Stuff!


We ALL call it great! 


1 entire cube plus 1/3 of a second cube of butter or margarine
2/3 cups white sugar
2 Tablespoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring 
1 very large package of Barrel O' Fun Corn Pops (about 15 ounces)


Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Melt butter in large sauce pan. Bring to a fast boil for 4 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Pour over corn pops, stirring as you go. Spread on cookie sheets or in a large roaster-type pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and pour onto flat surface to cool. Break up as needed. 


Handy Hint: Cut open the empty Barrel 'O Fun bag and spread it flat on a counter or table. Pour the finished snack onto the bag to cool.  (Our dog loves it when a few overshoot the area and fall on the floor!)


Cheapskate Hint:  Watch the weight of the mailing boxes themselves!!! When mailing unbreakable items, I often mail in large cereal boxes or soda cracker boxes or similar. 



'til we eat again,

          Simply, Gail

Peanut Butter Cookies Can't Get Much Simpler Than This

Thanks for the clipart
http://clipart.m-y-d-s.com/nuts/peanut/

Many thanks to one of our granddaughter's roommates, who shared it with our granddaughter, who shared it with her mother, who shared it with me. Hopefully, the original share-r doesn't mind me sharing it with the blogworld.

Like the post headline states, peanut butter cookies can't get much simpler than this. Can't get much faster-to-make either. And since my sources didn't include a name for them, I am calling them

Peanut Butter Quickies


In a bowl, use a fork to beat one egg thoroughly. Stir in one cup white sugar and one cup peanut butter until combined. (The dough will be sticky.) Drop by small spoonfuls onto cookie sheet. Lightly crisscross with a fork. (I dipped my fork in sugar---I think my mother used to crisscross her peanut butter cookies with a flour-dipped fork.)
Bake at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes. Makes about two dozen amazingly good cookies.


'till we eat again,
            Simply, Gail

Begin Saving Today on Necessities

"A penny saved is a penny earned."
"By failing to prepare, you are
preparing to fail"
Ben Franklin

I have posted before, and will again, about the need to be self-sufficient in case of emergency. It is unbelievable how fast store shelves can empty when something happens. . . or when something is even just expected to happen.


Even when there is not an emergency . . .
Provident living is a satisfying way of life. 
We save tons of money by buying much of our food and household products at case lot sales, or at least, when they are on sale. We still do this, even with just two of us.

We bought our first case 44 years ago. We took a chunk of our monthly food budget and bought canned pears. We didn't think everything through and we created a problem. We had used most of our food budget on that purchase so we ended up eating a lot of pears----depleting our supply and defeating our purpose.

We came up with a Plan
We decided that the best way to get started on storage was to watch for sales on items that we could not eat or at least not all at once: toilet paper, toothpaste, soaps, vegetable oil, sugar, flour, etc.

We started to buy staples when they came on sale.  When we couldn’t afford a case, we bought what we could. Then, we didn’t need to buy that item or those items until they were on sale again. We would use that little extra money to buy another item when it was on sale.

Slowly our supplies built up. So did our sense of well-being and security.

Self-sufficiency is one of our greatest securities!

We worked our Plan
When we were able to start buying canned goods I found it helpful to make a menu as an aid in knowing what to buy. I tried making a menu for each day of the month but found that overwhelming.

After trying several methods, here is the one that worked for me. I realized we ate basically* the same thing each week so I simply created a 7-day menu and multiplied the necessary ingredients by four. And there was a month's menu!

I know, 7x4=28 days, but work with me here, okay?

*By basically, we might have a Mexican night, an Italian night, a breakfast-for-dinner night, etc.  We didn’t mind having tacos once a week so that was not a problem for us, but if it would be for you, you could alternate burritos or a taco casserole with the tacos.  Many different Italian dishes contain the same ingredients just prepared differently.  Same with pancakes or waffles or eggs for the breakfast night.

Maybe you can come up with a better way --- or any way that will work for you.

When the time of need has arrived, the time for preparation is past.