Date Night

Last night was date night of the standard dinner and a movie variety. My husband, for some strange reason felt it in his heart to let me pick both the restaurant and the movie. I was far more excited about the restaurant than the movie, so I chose that we go to Melt Bar and Grilled and then to see The Descendants, with Safe House as the back up plan.
I knew we would never make it to the theater on time to see The Descendants. Melt has notoriously long waits and I knew this would likely be my only opportunity to get there for a long time. It is rare that the stars align in such a way that we have someone watch our son for a whole evening, and there is no way a toddler would wait an hour and 45 minutes for his grilled cheese! My apologies to you George Clooney, you just didn't look as good to me as a molten melted cheesy sandwich.

Versus

Sorry George, I know you are probably not used to losing to a sandwich, but the starts will have to magically align for me to have the opportunity to enjoy this deliciousness again. You on the other hand will arrive in a red envelop in my mailbox in a few short weeks, when you are released on DVD.
When my husband learned that bar seating was first come, first serve, he became a hawk, circling the bar, eyes narrowed, laser focus on half eaten sandwiches. Thanks to his stealthy efforts we snagged bar stools about 45 minutes into our hour and 45 minute wait. It was soooooooooooooo worth it! Even the coleslaw (normally relegated to the status of cheap plate filler and which I usually hate) was delicious.
best yet, the portions are monstrous, so I have half a spinach pie sandwich making my fridge smell of garlic and feta. I may just eat it for breakfast.
Oh, and then we went to the movie.
We had to see Safe House, which my husband preferred anyway. I would gladly sacrifice the choice of movie for the choice of restaurant.
Just a heads up, if you are going to see a movie this spring, there is a good chance Channing Tatum is going to be in it. His acting abilities know no bounds, Romantic dramas, action hero, comedic cop. He can do it all. Where are his Oscar nods. Mr. Clooney, watch out!

Blackberry Cobbler

This is one of my favorite berries to make into a cobbler when the berries are nice and fresh.

The Berries:
3 cups of washed blackberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons corn starch
2 teaspoons hot water

Add berries sugar and half a cup of water to a meduim sized sauce pan with nice deep sides (It keeps the berries in the pan rather than on your stove). Cook over meduim heat until boiling. Add in a slurry made of the cornstarch and hot water and continue to cook at a slow boil for another 10 minutes. Stir frequently. Remove from heat and put into a 2 quart casserole dish.

The Cobbler Dough:
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons shortening (I like butter flavored)
1/2 cup of milk

Mix dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Cut in shortening and milk with a fork until dough forms a ball. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto the top of the hot fruit. Bake for 25 minutes at 400 degrees or until biscuit topping is golden.
Best served warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. If you are making it in advanced, you can warm individual servings in the microwave.

Simple Birthday Party

A great birthday party doesn't have to include everyone you have ever met and pony rides for all of the kids in the neighborhood. I assure you, no long term psychological damage will occur if you hold a less elaborate birthday celebration. Young children aren't going to remember the party later in life. For me, the most important consideration for my son's recent second birthday party was how much is too much for him to handle.
The truth is my son is a party animal. He doesn't stop, and forget about nap time or eating for that matter, if there are people around he doesn't see all of the time. A birthday blowout would look like this: 1 cranky child who won't eat even though he is hungry and won't nap even when he's sleepy. Result = no fun.
My second consideration was the fact that we live in a house far too small to accommodate all of our family, so we needed some alternatives. We also live close to my husband's family, but about 60 miles from my family. Our solution, two smaller parties hosted at the homes of both sets of grandparents. Two parties you say, that means two times the cost right? It doesn't have to be. Here are some ideas for keeping it simple regardless of the number of parties you have.
1. Invite only the crucial people. For us that meant my husband and my immediate families only.
2. Look for a relative who is willing to help with either a hosting location or some of the food and take them up on the offer!
3. Those invitations, make them by phone, email, Facebook, or any free service of your choosing. Save your cents for something other than postage.
4. Keep the menu simple- and use the ingredients that are on sale at the time of your party. Our son's birthday was close to Easter so we served ham.
5. Decor can be simple as well. We used Thomas themed dessert plates and napkins for the Thomas cake (which I made myself- another post later) and that was all.
6. The gifts- we try to make sure that whatever we buy will be something that will last and will be used for a few years. A character themed gift may not be what he's into in a few months so we look for more lasting gifts. This year for example we bought a mini-trampoline with an enclosure. It has a weight limit of 100 pounds, so he will be able to jump on it well into grade school. Plus, it was on sale with free shipping to the local store.

Cut trash bill in half

One way to keep the family budget on track is to cut the trash bill in half. Is that even possible you ask? It is and it did not require massive lifestyle changes in our world. Here's how we did it. First, we take advantage of our community recycling drop off center for our recyclables. This leaves us with very little trash to take to the curb. Most weeks we have a bag of diapers and another bag of trash. Our trash service allows us to have far more trash than this each week. We decided to split the trash service and the cost with my brother-in-law's family who live on the same street. We started this arrangement four years ago, and it has worked well. Each year we both save about $125 by spilting the cost of the trash bill. It does mean that someone will have to bring their trash to your house, though so you will probably want to share trash service with someone you trust in your neighborhood.

Easter on the Cheep

Some kind of calendar anomaly occurred this year that caused Easter to fall the day after my son's second birthday. This meant I wanted to keep the Easter basket simple and more importantly, cheap (see I do know how to spell it, I just liked the play on words for the title).
Last year I decided that a precious little Easter basket was not going to withstand the crushing hands of a toddler and would probably be reduce to bits that would surely be the size of a choking hazard within minutes. I saw the decorated buckets for only $1.00, but my cheapness kicked in. I realized I have extra 5 quart buckets and the pounds on my thighs to show what happened to the contents. I also had stickers left over from the Easter egg coloring kit. Watch out Martha- I can put stickers on a bucket, I've never seen anyone on your show do that.

Here's how to keep the Easter basket under $12.00

• Bucket-free 
• Sticker book $4.00
• Books, side walk chalk and car $1.00/ each from the dollar section at Target
• Bunny Pops from a fundraiser for my niece $1.25 each
• Some candies inside the eggs, which I already had.

The Big Boy Bed

My son, at least in his own mind, will soon be making a transition to the big boy bed from his crib. He sometimes naps there or falls asleep there on nights when he is sick. I remembered my sister-in-law's cost saving idea for those awkward bed rails. I can only imagine how much fun a 3am sheet change would be with those things in the way.  The plain bed rails seem to cost about $20.00 and the ones with a licensed character on them cost double that. My sister-in-law used foam pool noodles placed underneath the fitted sheet. It seems that all kids really need is a gentle reminder at the edge of the bed. The pool noodles served the same purpose for a fraction of the cost.
I priced pool noodles this afternoon at Target and the larger ones were $3.99 each. If you need to safeguard both sides of a bed you could save $32.00 by using the pool noodles. Best yet, they can still be used for their intended purpose once your child no longer needs them on the bed.
I took things one step further in order to spend no money guarding the side of the bed. During the holidays we replaced the memory foam pillows on our bed. I was left with two memory foam pillows that looked like they had to be useful for something. They sat in a corner for a few days waiting for me to get the motivation to get them to the attic for storage before the idea hit me. I sliced the memory foam pillows in half lengthwise (that's the hot dog way, not the hamburger way) and then put them underneath the fitted sheet. I only needed to guard one side of the bed because the other side of the big boy bed is against the wall. So far, it has worked just fine. I had one more section of pillow than I needed for the side, so I put it across the bottom.

Making Your Own Baby Food

Here's a secret that the baby food companies don't want you to know, making your own baby food is really easy.  Think about it, our grandparents weren't eating baby food that came in jars with pictures of chubby little babies. 

The savings also add up quickly. By making baby food I was able to save $12- 15 dollars each week, $48-60 per month, or $480-600 in the ten months or so before my son was ready for regular food. Buying produce or frozen vegetables on sale will result in the biggest savings when making baby food.  

Here is an example- the supermarket runs a sale of frozen vegetables for $1.00 per bag. Making the equivalent of a store bought plastic tub of baby food costs .17 cents. Purchasing a tub of brand name baby food costs .67 cents. Each time my son ate frozen peas or green beans I saved .57 cents. 

If you have the time, or know someone with a green thumb, home grown fruits and vegetables can result in even greater savings. 

Making baby food is simple. 

1. Start with a clean kitchen, sanitize all food preparation surfaces and make sure all pans, bowls and utensils are clean. Clean all fresh fruits and vegetables with water and a produce brush. Even organic fruits and vegetables can have bacteria on the outside. 
2. Items that smash easily like bananas and avocados can be smashed with a fork. Ripe peaches and apricots can be pushed through a mesh strainer or pureed in a food mill. Firmer fruits and vegetables can be steamed in a pan with an inch of water in the bottom of the pan. Steam foods until they are just soft enough to puree. 
3. A blender or food processor will work well for this. I have found that an immersion blender or stick blender works extremely well. Dump both the food and the water used for steaming into the apparatus of choice and puree  
4. Freeze the pureed foods in ice cube trays covered with plastic wrap. 
5. After the food is frozen, remove the cubes and store them in labeled, dated freezer bags. 
6. Food will store for 1 month in a freezer attached to a refrigerator or 3 months in a free standing deep freezer. 

Homemade baby foods taste more like the real fruit or vegetable than their store bought counterparts, which can make transitioning to regular food easier later on. You can also serve your baby a wide variety of foods.  Look at the baby food aisle for ideas for combinations after introducing the fruits and vegetables separately. As your babies horizon's expand, plant based spices such as parsley, thyme and oregano can be added to foods. Just remember to never add salt, sugar or fats to baby food.  

One of my favorite recipe sites http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/