(So let me start this off by saying, this could be even LESS than $5.25. If you already own food coloring! I did not.) All you’re going to need is 2 ingredients. Food coloring, and a bag of uncooked rice. I used a 2 lb bag and I’d suggest at least 2 lbs of rice. (Also, I think you can get food coloring at Dollar Tree for $1.25. This would save you the extra $2 I spent at Walmart.) Everything else that I used for this sensory bin, were items I had around my house!
Depending on how many dishes you want to wash, (either use the 4 separate bowls, or keep reusing one, whatever floats your boat!) grab 4 bowls and evenly distribute the rice, leaving 1/5th behind in the bag. Then, add a few drops (5ish) of food coloring to each bowl. It’s kinda like Easter! But instead of eggs, it’s rice! *Bonus Activity, you could color the rice then add your Easter eggs to the bowl and swirl them around for a cool design!* Stir your rice and food coloring around until the rice is covered.
Don’t go TOO crazy, because the food coloring will only go so deep into the rice. It’ll only get so pigmented but I was pleasantly surprised that the rice dried fairly fast! Once each color is dry, mix all the rice together in a large bowl, including the rice you left white.
I initially had all the rice in a large empty seltzer water bottle. My daughter used this as a shaker for a while, it was a worthy instrument. But after some time had passed, she lost interest, and I figured it would be more fun for her to play with her hands and with some tools. But, as a parent of a Toddler, we all know how quickly a mess can happen. So I had to figure out a way for her to play with the rice, without it being ALL over my house.
I had a light bulb moment! We had just got some totes so I could do some organizing, and one of them we hadn’t put anything into yet. It was a big tote, so I knew she’d fit with room to spare. I brought over the tote and dumped the rice into it in front of her. She was FACINATED! And immediately wanted to be in the tote so she could try to put the rice back into the bottle. And thus, the Rice Sensory Bin was born!
Outfits or Home Accents? Toddler Toys or Fancy Meals? If I Had the Cash for a Shopping Spree, Here’s Where I’d Go!
Let’s be real — as a SAHM with bills and only one income, a shopping spree isn’t exactly on the horizon. But hey, a girl can dream! If I had the chance, I’d be filling my bags with goodies for both me and my daughter, sprucing up the house with some fresh decor, and treating myself to an amazing lunch.
I’d definitely hit up some name-brand stores: Hollister for my favorite jeans, Boot Barn for yet another pair of cowboy boots (because honestly, you can never have too many). I’d grab new bras from Victoria’s Secret and stock up on toddler clothes at L.L. Bean. And for home decor? I’d wander through the fancy boutiques in Portland’s Old Port — you know, the ones where you browse politely, admire everything, and quietly gasp at the price tags.
Well, now that I’ve been lost in a day dream for a while, thinking of all the wonderful things I would buy…I suppose I should go get something productive done with the rest of my Sunday. I attached a list to my Benable that gives you links to all the things I’d wanna buy on my spree! Maybe it’ll give you some ideas as well!
You’re writing your autobiography. What’s your opening sentence?
Is a well lived life defined by your achievements, your failures, or a combination of both?
Man, this was a tough one! One sentence? I feel like discussing one’s life is so complex. It is so full of ups, downs, joys and misery. And everyone’s story is so vastly different. How am I supposed to know where to start? What’s the most exciting moment in my life? So I start high? Or start low? I guess I’ve not lived enough life to feel a need for an autobiography just yet.
Although, I suppose I could start early. Then someday, when I’m old enough to actually write an autobiography, I wouldn’t have to try and remember the younger years.
Meal planning, while kinda tedious, saves us SO much money! We were spending $200+ a week on groceries. And it just wasn’t sustainable. We all know the price of groceries is crazy. And if it’s not the price going up, it’s the size of the product going down.
So my husband gave me a challenge. Could I get a weeks worth of groceries for $70-$80? Now let’s be honest, this isn’t happening EVERY week. But I feel like I’m usually between $85-$150 I’m really proud of that number. I also got a Costco card for Christmas so this is where I go to get a lot of our day to day snacks, like granola bars and Edamame and even Frozen Pizza. (I haven’t calculated the cost of Costco into the budget yet as we’ve only on once so far, but I’ll update once we get into a routine.)
I also only have myself, my husband, and our 15 month old to feed. She’s still breastfeeding so she only actually consumes so much regular food throughout the day. But I’m super lucky that she will try literally ANYTHING!
Alright, so how do I make my Meal Plan? How do I know what to cook, when to cook, how much to cook? This all changes by the week. But it’s also part of how I’m able to save on groceries. So keep reading to see my process. (It’s not that hard, I promise)
Step 1: Make a list of all food in the house.
And by all, I mean the things I’d generally use/need for most cooking. I note down if we have Milk, Eggs, Cheese (an important staple in my house) Do we have any meat in the fridge or freezer? What vegetables and fruits do I have? Do we have pasta, sauce, rice?
Please note, I’m old school. I’m an elder millennial, I still make lists on paper. Important things get done on my computer instead of my phone. I make a grid, one section for Fridge, one for Freezer and one for Pantry. Then I do the same at the bottom of the page for what we DON’T have. This way, when I move to the next step I don’t forget what we need.
So now I’ve got my lists. Now’s the time I get my laptop.
Step 2: Check the weekly Grocery flyer for what’s on sale.
This is the tedious part. I buy my groceries at 2 different stores. While it makes life a little harder, it saves me at least $10 a trip! I buy all my center store groceries (boxed goods, pasta sauce, shelf stable goods) at Walmart. Now like, real take here, I didn’t shop there for YEARS. I didn’t love some of their corporate policies. But with only being on one income, I need to save every dollar I can, and shopping there is how I make it possible. I will also on occasion buy my meat in a “family pack”. Then I freeze it into separate dinner portions and take it out as needed. This helps me keep my grocery price down the rest of the month.
I get all my produce, meats, and dairy products at Hannaford. It’s a grocery chain in the North East. (They are owned by the same people as Food Lion, if that helps for a comparison.) So I look at the Hannaford flyer and have tabs open on my computer for both Walmart and Hannaford. As I find what’s on sale, this is when I decide on a recipe, if I havent cooked with it often, I’ll look up a recipe. Luckily for my husband, I’m a pretty good cook. I did a semester of Culinary classes in college. (I suggest people take a cooking class if they are able, just getting the basics makes a Huge difference.)
This week ground Turkey was a good price so I figured Turkey Burgers would be good! (I made Tacos with ground turkey last week so I didn’t want to repeat this). Kielbasa was on sale, but its not something I cook with often. So, I did what we all do, I googled a recipe! I found a sheet pan Sausage, Broccoli and Potato recipe and figured that sounded great! Easy peasy. I also already had frozen shrimp, so Shrimp Scampi is an easy fix, and all I need is a small bottle of wine!
Something helpful if you’re not a super confident cook is to start with a few staples. (And I don’t mean a bowl of cereal) Learn how to make Spaghetti with meat sauce. You don’t even have to make the sauce! (I buy jarred and Zhuzh it up!) Tacos are an easy meal that everyone likes! You can use hamburg or turkey or chicken! I always add extra spices then just the taco mix. You could make your own seasoning mix if you wanted as well! As you get more confident, you can change up your dishes a little at a time, or branch out and make something similar. Make your own garlic bread for your pasta night! Make a burrito instead of tacos!
Once you feel a little more confident, you’ll be able to branch out into new dish’s and new ingredients! This will help you as you get your groceries as you’ll have more ideas for what you can cook out of what’s on sale. Even if you look up a recipe, you can always use it as a guide, and make it your own! I do this often!
I hope this was helpful! I’ll update again as we figure out Costco and how that affects the budget. I’ll also post recipes as well! Feel free to comment and let me know if this helps, or if you have anything that works really well for you!
Describe the most ambitious DIY project you’ve ever taken on.
You know when you’re scrolling the internet looking at all the beautiful pictures of people DIY and you’re like “PFFTTTT, that looks EASY. I could do it with my eyes closed!” That is me. For every DIY project I take on. And look, I worked in a hardware store for 10 years. So needless to say you pick up some skills after being around building supplies that long.
I’ve re-upholstered furniture, I’ve refinished an outdoor table into a beautiful new patio piece. I’ve installed NUMBEROUS laminate and LVT floors. I’ve even changed the alternator in a car with a YouTube video. I’ve never been afraid to give a DIY the old college try. (So long as I have the right tools)
But man, refinishing cabinets….I’ve done it twice. I. 2 houses. And while satisfying when done, it NEVER looks Pinterest good. And for all the hard work, the cleaning, the sanding, the sorting of the hardware so you don’t loose the screws, the getting the doors back on correctly (these were old houses, with original cabinets). Even new handles, just look like a better version of what it was.
And it’s not necessarily a bad thing. Better IS better after all. And sometimes we just can’t afford a 20K+ new kitchen ya know? (And this was even a time before eggs were $7 a dozen! ) So I suppose in the end, yeah it was worthwhile. It looked nicer and made the room a hell of a lot brighter.
All in all I LOVE a good DIY. And I’ll keep doing DIY projects as long as possible. Plus, I’m too proud to pay someone to do something I KNOW I can do. Even if it does take me twice as long! You never know until you try, and if you don’t try you’ll never know!
Enjoy some random DIY projects I’ve worked on!
My updated cabinets! See…they look…fine. better than the super dark brown that they WERE. I wish I had a before image. I also did the countertops! Which I actually was fairly happy with! I made this headboard! I spray painted so many things during COVID quarantine 😅
I hung these shelves and made my bathroom feel a little fresher with my (*ahem* fake) plants.
Since we live in beautiful, snowy Maine, we get lots, and lots of snow. (Not like when I was a kid, but still enough to despise shoveling.)
My daughter hasn’t really gotten the hang of shoes yet. Especially boots. (Those suckers are heavy!) So we haven’t spent a whole lot of time outside in the snow. But, she’s so interested in it!
So instead of going out into the snow, I brought the snow inside to us! I dug down a bit to get past that hard, crunchy layer. (I used a Tupperware container 😅) Then I filled the container with snow and brought it in. I set her up in her highchair (a towel on the floor soaks up the inevitable mess) then I added in cut up blueberries and grapes and put some sprinkles on top!
This kept her busy for about a half an hour! I replenished the snow every so often so she could continue to play. She definitely needed an outfit and diaper change afterwards. But I’d say mission success!
Trust me I’m the FIRST person to make a joke about crack. Did I make multiple jokes about the Crack I brought to Christmas? Yes. Am I a 12 year old boy? At times.
Do I love a stupid joke? Always.
I love all things Toffee and/or Caramel. I’ve always wanted to make this, but for some reason I just never have. Until this year! So I loosely followed the Pillsbury recipe!
Ingredients:
3 sleeves of Saltine crackers (Store brand is fine)
1 Can of Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 Cup Brown Sugar (I used dark) firmly packed
1/2 Cup(1 stick) Softened Butter
1/4 Cup Whole Milk
1 Bag of Ghirardelli Chocolate Chips
Instructions:
Line a cookie sheet with Aluminum Foil and spray with cooking spray
Line up crackers side by side on the tray until the tray is full. (About 1 sleeve for each layer)
In a medium size sauce pan on medium low to medium add in your Sweetened Condensed milk, butter, milk and brown sugar. Stir until combined and then turn up heat to medium high.
Heat sugar until “simmering” (its thick and you don’t want to risk getting burnt). Stir constantly for 5-10 minutes until the sugar mixture starts to thicken and is Nappe(slight coating on spoon but will still drizzle off) on your spoon. (To be 100% transparent, I just cooked my sugar mixture until it seemed thick enough but not to thick 😅 I definitely cooked it longer then the pillsbury version said but I didn’t time it as I was doing 100 things at once.)
Using a spatula (I prefer an offset) pour 1/3rd of your toffee mixture onto the crackers. Pour slowly and spread with your spatula so it covers all crackers.
Place 2 more rows of crackers and toffee mixture (you should use all the toffee mixture)
Melt your chocolate chips in the microwave. 30 second intervals and mixing in-between until the chocolate is melted. Then pour on top of your last row of toffee and spread over the entire thing.
Add any toppings you may like. Sprinkles, nuts, a little sea salt.
I’ve always had the thought of having a blog in the back of my mind. All my life people have told me I could make money off the crazy things that have happened to me. I’m at a point where I have a little bit of time, being a SAHM (Stay at home mom, as the internet seems to abbreviate it).
I’m always looking for people who share a similar lifestyle as me. The non beige (I say..as a person who has beige walls…but not by choice) non-influencer, not super tidy home kinda mom. The ones where life shows on our faces, in our clothes and in our homes. As an elder millenial (IYKYK) TikTok isn’t really my kinda vibe (If the government doesn’t shut it down) So here I am, and here we are. To share a little bit of life from one moms perspective to another. I’ll share along the way the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful and I hope you’ll join me as we navigate this crazy life of motherhood together!
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