So for Earth Day I wanted to share something that related to being more "green". This idea came from a girl in my mom's ward. My mom is always on the look out for ways to entertain my overly active child. Any of you that have toddler aged children know how hard it is to entertain them. They play with a toy for like 10 seconds and then want something new. It can be quite a chore sometimes.
All you need to entertain them is an egg carton and some pom-poms (not the cheerleader kind). I just showed Ryan how to put the pom-poms in the hole on top and then how to open them and get them back out. This seriously works miracles. He played with it for more than 30 minutes. I don't think he has ever played with one toy for that long. And I must say this toy was a lot cheaper than anything else he has. If you don't already have some fun colored pom-poms, I'm pretty sure you can get them at the Dollar Store. You can probably actually get them from the craft store for the same price.
Another good thing about it is that it's quiet. It's a toy you can take to church or any where else you need to be quiet. If you want to make it even more fun you can even paint the egg carton together. Try it out and let me know if your kids like it.
*Just a tip: Don't always just leave it out to play with, otherwise they are going to get bored of it too. Save it for times when you really need it like church, or while you cook dinner. It will be exciting every time you get it out!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Simple Money Saving
So I had a hard time sleeping last night because I was trying to organize all of the ideas that I want to put on here. So I decided to share a simple money saving tip today. I think I saw this on like Oprah or something like 4 years ago, but when I watched it, I thought it was such a good idea that I needed to remember it when I was married and poor someday.
So I am always spending way too much at the grocery store, and meat is part of that problem. It is so expensive! I love chicken, but I refuse to pay $3.99 a pound for it. And yes, they have those frozen bags of chicken that are a little cheaper, but I think they are a little too expensive too. So I have started to buy chicken drumsticks, wings, and thighs. Yeah, they aren't as pretty as a chicken breast, but a lot of the time you can get it for 99 cents a pound! I can spend $4.00 and feed my family for 3 nights.
There are great recipes all over online for chicken pieces. They are so easy to make. I usually bake them to be a little more on the healthy side. If you want some good recipes go to allrecipes.com. It has some really good ones. You can even use recipes that you use for chicken tenders or breasts. A marinade is a marinade, and a breading is a breading, no matter what you put it on. You can even cook it and then take the chicken off the bones and use it in salads or pasta, be creative.
I hope this tip is helpful, we have saved quite a bit of grocery money this way. (And you can still splurge every now and then and buy a nice chicken breast!) If you have any good recipes to use on chicken, email them to me and I will post them for you!
So I am always spending way too much at the grocery store, and meat is part of that problem. It is so expensive! I love chicken, but I refuse to pay $3.99 a pound for it. And yes, they have those frozen bags of chicken that are a little cheaper, but I think they are a little too expensive too. So I have started to buy chicken drumsticks, wings, and thighs. Yeah, they aren't as pretty as a chicken breast, but a lot of the time you can get it for 99 cents a pound! I can spend $4.00 and feed my family for 3 nights.
There are great recipes all over online for chicken pieces. They are so easy to make. I usually bake them to be a little more on the healthy side. If you want some good recipes go to allrecipes.com. It has some really good ones. You can even use recipes that you use for chicken tenders or breasts. A marinade is a marinade, and a breading is a breading, no matter what you put it on. You can even cook it and then take the chicken off the bones and use it in salads or pasta, be creative.
I hope this tip is helpful, we have saved quite a bit of grocery money this way. (And you can still splurge every now and then and buy a nice chicken breast!) If you have any good recipes to use on chicken, email them to me and I will post them for you!
Monday, April 20, 2009
Explanation and 1st Simple Idea
In this complicated world it's very hard to find simplicity. So, I have decided that with some of my extra time I would start this blog to share simple ideas to use in many different areas of life like simple recipes, simple money saving tips, simple ideas for kids...and so on. I need to say that not all of these are my ideas alone. They are ideas I have come across at some point in my life that have helped me to simplify my craziness. If you have any ideas that you would like to share, feel free. I am not a super creative person so feel free to e-mail me any ideas at any time. My e-mail address is simpleandsensible@gmail.com. I hope this is useful to someone out there! So please feel free to share this blog with anyone you know!
So for my first day I am just going to post one of my most favorite simple recipes. I know many people probably already have this one but if not, I hope you enjoy. This recipe came from one of my old roommates, Emily.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
1 boxed spice cake mix
1 small can of pumpkin (not pumpkin pie)
1 bag of chocolate chips
Directions
Simply mix all of the ingredients together and bake at 350 for 7-10 minutes or until they are done to your likeness. If you don't like a lot of chocolate only use half of the bag of chocolate chip. Either way they are delicious. (You can also put it in a bread pan and make it into a loaf if you'd rather.)
I love this recipe! They are so easy to make and they taste so yummy! I hope you enjoy them and please come back and visit for tomorrow's simple idea!
So for my first day I am just going to post one of my most favorite simple recipes. I know many people probably already have this one but if not, I hope you enjoy. This recipe came from one of my old roommates, Emily.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
1 boxed spice cake mix
1 small can of pumpkin (not pumpkin pie)
1 bag of chocolate chips
Directions
Simply mix all of the ingredients together and bake at 350 for 7-10 minutes or until they are done to your likeness. If you don't like a lot of chocolate only use half of the bag of chocolate chip. Either way they are delicious. (You can also put it in a bread pan and make it into a loaf if you'd rather.)
I love this recipe! They are so easy to make and they taste so yummy! I hope you enjoy them and please come back and visit for tomorrow's simple idea!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)