Kids Fundraising & White Wheat Rolls

As our kids have gotten older, it seems like their activities start to drain us dry.  Especially since we now have several who are of age to be going and doing.  Right now there are two but next year it will be three!

Don’t get me wrong I like that they have social interaction, opportunities to serve, & ways to grow their faith.  But it can be a juggling act to finance it all.

My son used to earn his cash for Nationals by mowing the lawn.  We paid the fee & then he mowed all summer.  It worked well and everyone was happy. 

Now we have two girls coming along and there isn’t enough lawn or cash to go around so they’ve had to look outside the home for ways to earn money.   They haven’t gotten in to babysitting but that may be an option later on.

This year my oldest daughter sold homemade vanilla to neighbors & friends around Christmas time.  It is a great gift & super easy to make but you have to think ahead.  Like 6 months ahead because that is how long it takes to make it.  If you are interested in in how we did it head over to Heavenly Homemakers to learn how to do it(Love Love Love her site by the way).  She had 3/4 of her fees to go to Bible Quizzing Nationals by January!

We weren’t sure if #2 daughter would make the cut for Nationals so we didn’t start fundraising for her until just a few weeks ago.  She has been baking some yummy treats to sell.  It has gone well so far.  She is making Happy Honey Wheat Bread, Cinnamon Rolls & White Wheat Dinner Rolls. 

 

I will share one of the recipes below.  It is a lot of work but she’s doing a great job with helping.  We worked all afternoon Saturday.  When done there were 5 pie plates of cinnamon rolls, 4 9x13 pans of cinnamon rolls, 3 loaves of bread, & 60 dinner rolls.  Whew!  This pictures is after we delivered some of the good!

I am so proud of my kids for working & not expecting a hand out.  I think it will teach them the value of a dollar to earn it themselves.

White Wheat Dinner Rolls—makes 15-20 rolls

1 1/4 cups milk

1 large egg

6 T melted butter

3 T honey

2 cups white wheat flour(I use Kroger brand)

2 cups unbleached flour

1 1/2 T. vital wheat gluten

2 t salt

1 pkg yeast(a little less than a full tablespoon)

Add all ingredients to bread machine in order.  Select dough cycle & when finished divide and shape buns.  Let rise until double.  Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Other options:

You can also do this in a kitchen aid mixer & double the recipe.  Remove the dough from the mixer bowl when finished mixing & place in a larger bowl to rise for an hour and a half.

This recipe makes great hamburger buns also—just make larger buns & you will have around 12 hamburger buns.

 

       

  

Mountain Climber

Why do I let him do stuff like this? 

Because it’s February and he’s bored.  Hey at least he stripped his own bed right?

Why say no when it is basically harmless.  I make him pose for pictures though. HA—he loved it though!

Pasta Meatball Soup

**Anyone coming over from Frugal Follies I apologize for the wrong link.  Clicked too quick!  10 Spring Things is a different post.

I have noticed a trend.  Most of the meals I post here are EASY.  I wonder if that is because I am lazy or just don’t want to spend much time in the kitchen.  Ah well it doesn’t really matter as long as its a good recipe right? 

This is one a friend shared when we were doing a freezer cooking co-op.  It worked great.  There were 8 members & we each would bring 8 batches of a single meal(we decided these together) and then we traded.  So going home, I ended up with 8 different meals ready to pull out of the freezer!  Sometimes we would do 8 batches of 2 different meals & then it was 16 meals in the freezer! 

Now I just do my own freezer cooking with the family & that seems to suit us better and the kids get to learn how to work in the kitchen too!

We still make this recipe but it is so easy that we don’t freeze it.  However I do freeze the leftovers(if there are any) for my son for College Freezer Food.  Waayyy better than dorm food!

Pasta Meatball Soup

1 cup uncooked spiral or shell pasta

1 lb cooked meatballs—I used Aldi’s turkey meatballs

2-14 oz cans chicken broth

1-28 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 cup carrots, sliced in to circles

1-16 oz can Kidney beans, rinsed

1-14 oz jar mushrooms or 4-6 fresh mushrooms

1 cup frozen peas—optional—I always forget this

Directions:

Cook pasta.  Combine other ingredients in stock pot and bring to a boil.  Cover and simmer 5-10 minutes.  Drain pasta & add to the soup.

If you are freezing:  slightly undercook the pasta.  Freeze in separate container from soup.  Combine remaining ingredients, cover, freeze.

To serve from frozen:  thaw soup.  Heat soup to boiling.  Cover and simmer 5-10 minutes.  Add thawed noodles and heat though. Serve.

Pair with a green salad for your own homemade soup & salad lunch or dinner!

High Impact Ideas . . . Lazy Logic

A friend & I were having a discussion about lazy logic today.  How do you get others to do for you so you can be lazy? 

Laziness is not a good thing.  I(like many humans) don’t like to work.  I would rather sit and read a book or take an nap.  But God made us for work.  There are so many things he has planned for us to do in our lifetimes.  I do know that God doesn’t say we have to do it ALL for our families, husbands, parents, or friends.  He has a unique plan laid out for us.  Part of my plan is that I must teach my children.

Teach----not  do for them.

I can be a bit of a perfectionist.  I’ve been known to redo something that isn’t done my way.  I am ashamed when this happens because I had this done to me as a child.  I can’t tell you how worthless it made me feel to have “my” hard work redone.  If I redo a chore or project that a child has done , then I try to talk to them first and have them redo it or we redo it together.  

  

So here is my Lazy Logic.  It sounds bad . . . but wait it really isn’t.

My hubby looked at me one day and said “You need to work yourself out of a job.”  What he meant was “teach” them to work and manage it in such a way that you don’t have to do everything!  At first I was offended, but he was right God had given me “helpers” I just needed to train them.

So by delegating being lazy I found I had more hours in the day.  WE started young and it made a huge difference.  They know work is expected and that there isn’t a free ride here.  It might seem harsh but when there is work to be done I can honestly say that they know how to do it!

They each have had a turn cleaning out the cat litter pans(yuck!).  They each have had to take the dog out for exercise in the rain or cold.  They all know how to clean a toilet(even the 8 year old).

Children are capable of so much IF we just trust them to learn how.  If we just take the time to teach them instead of “just doing it ourselves.”  We rob them of an opportunity when we do this.

I have the perfect example.  I was struggling to get the papers graded for all 4 kids.  I really needed just 30 minutes of undisturbed time.  So again my wise hubby suggested “Let the kids fix lunch.” I nodded acceptingly looked at him like he was nuts and made that happen. 

We don’t do sandwiches everyday.  I usually make something simple(is there any other way to do lunch?) or we warm up leftovers.  Well each child chose something easy each week to fix.  I think letting them choose made all the difference but that is another post.  My youngest daughter made the same thing for a month(1X each week) as she was learning a new skill, while the other 2 made things that they had be already taught.  This WORKED!  I had my 30 minutes & they contributed to the running of the house!

So today I advocating being a little bit lazy.  Teach your child to work.  Expect him/her to do something.  Don’t redo it for them.  Oh and don’t forget to PRAISE them and BRAG on them(in their presence) to friends, grandparents, or complete strangers.  There is not better way to build their self esteem & confidence.

   

Do you have any High Impact or Lazy Logic Ideas today? 

Please comment & share!

10 Spring Things I am Looking Forward to

10.  Walks at the park

Winter weather is starting to be old.  I would like to to be able to chuck school for the afternoon & just go play.  Spring is coming!

9. Not being careful with how I walk

Surgery left me being very cautious with where I walk & how long I can go.  Not a lot of pain but not a lot of stamina either.  I am ready to be steady on my feet.

8.  Feeling strong

Six weeks have passed.  I am cleared to start strengthening my muscles and working back up to “normal.”  Whatever that is.

7.  Hiking

Okay so that means across Wal-mart at this point.  But I am SO happy/glad/ecstatic to be able to do that!

6.  Playing chase with my kids

I hate being the slow one of the group.  That is gonna change!

5.  Bike rides

See #6

4.  Wearing sandals

I miss my sandals.  Come on warm weather you can do it!

3.  Planting my garden

I was afraid I might not be able to have one this year.  I am so grateful that it is doable.  Now what should we plant . . .

2.  Flowers

Not too long until we can move the mulch back so that they baby plants can start peaking up.

1.  SUNSHINE

I am already noticing that it is staying late longer.  There have been a lot of distractions in January & February this year so I haven’t gotten too sun deprived but I am ready to spend some time outside in the sun.  It just makes me smile to think about it!

Joining in at Gratituesday, Top Ten Tuesday, Family Blog Hop

Progress on my Rag Rug

I had planned to get this rag rug done in January but well. . . several things cause me to not quite to get there.  Like surgery, shoulder pain, recover etc.  I am making progress again and hopefully will have it done by the end of February.  I really like the way it is coming along.

My girls room is a lime green & the colors will work perfectly in there.  I like this rug especially since I bought the fabric to make it at the good will for $4!  What a deal!

If you’d like to see the step-by-step process here are the steps!

Part 1     Part 2    Part 3     Part 4  

 

 

This post is part of No Mom Talk Monday with The Mommy Matters.  Head there now to link up your own post w/no mom talk!

Money Saving Monday: Saving Mushroom$

I hate throwing food away.  Especially when it has slid to the back of the refrigerator & been forgotten. 

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Mushrooms often are that way around here.  We open a package and use 4-5 and then the rest well when I find them a week later they just go in the trash.  I HATE  that because it feels like I am throwing $ in the trash.  Which in a way I guess I am.

My brilliant hubby read the package of the mushrooms(I swear I’ve never seen this) and it said to put the unused mushrooms in a paper bag in the frig. 

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He did that & told me about it later.  Then I promptly forgot about them.  When I went to make a recipe that needed a few mushrooms I stomped my food & said “I bet those are BAD!”  Frustrated I opened the bag and WOW they were fine!  A little dried out and wrinkly but not slimy and bruised as they are usually in the blue container they come home in.

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So I am not out to save the world just trying to save a few bucks & mushrooms along the way.  Do you have any cool tricks to share on how to keep food fresh a bit longer?