Banana bread, you smell good!

Few things in this world smell better to me than these: the scent of lavendar lotion on my newborn baby,
Dear Hubby in his Old Spice, the sweet smell in the air just after a rain on a warm day and bread baking in the oven. This banana bread in particular does not disappoint in smell yumminess! It also happens to be tasty and easy to make.

 The first thing I always do is pull out bananas from the freezer. I will always use frozen bananas because once they have thawed a little, they are so easy to incorporate into the mix. I have tried over ripe non frozen before and it just seemed like more work to mash them down.  

Freezing bananas are easy, just toss over ripe ones in the freezer as is. No need to package them. The will stay for at least a month in the freezer just as they are. When you want to make some bread just grab 3 from your stash. A tip though: defrost on a plate not the counter. As they thaw out the peels turn black and I have actually stained my counter top. Whoopsie! Once the bananas have thawed, I break off the bottom end and squeeze the banana out into a bowl.

The original recipe I used came from here . I have made this so many times now that I have adapted it to our tastes. One of the things I added was cinnamon. In my opinion most any bread other than bread for lunch/dinner should have some cinnamon in it. I also use whole wheat pastry flour instead of all-purpose flour. I also have included some oatmeal once, but Dear Hubby didn't care for it that way.

Ingredients:
3 frozen bananas thawed 
1/3 cup melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
healthy dash of cinnamon
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread coconut oil (or lard) into the baking pans set aside. Empty bananas into bowl and mix with the melted butter. Batter will be lumpy. Add in sugar, egg, and vanilla and mix some more. Sprinkle in the baking soda, salt and cinnamon and mix in to the batter. Add the flour last and mix just until evenly blended. Pour mixture into two 8.5x4.5 inch loaf pans and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. 

Enjoy!

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Sweet, simple, money saving alternative to soda and juice

I grew up putting a tea jug out in the sun on a warm day and drinking sun tea in the summer. I married a man who drinks it all year long. So I quickly learned how to make it from the stove top  when it is too cold for sun tea. We go through about 2 gallon jars a week. It is quite simple and inexpensive to make. It saves us a ton on sugar intake, as it only takes a minimum amount to sweeten the tea. It also happens to save on the grocery bill because I send a 16 oz plastic jug with Dear Hubby to work everyday. Between that and his water he rarely has to spend money on a soda or sports drinks. Sunshine loves it too, and will actually ask for tea instead of soda or chocolate milk when she gets a kids meal somewhere.

Here is how to make it:
Fill a pan 3/4 full with water, bring to a boil on stove. Note: I have a pan I only use for tea because overtime it gets stained. Once the water is boiling I take it off the burner. I add 5 bags of tea and let steep for 5 minutes. If you like it stronger add another bag or two. Five seem to be just right for us. 

While the tea steeps in the pan I fill a gallon glass jar with 3/4 full of warm water. I use warm so the sugar (about 1/3 cup) will mix in. If you don't want sweet tea then skip this step. We like is sweet! Note: I do not like the plastic jugs with spouts at the bottom that the stores sell in the summer time. Why? Because the spouts always seem to end up leaking. I look for glass gallon jars with no spouts at yard sales and thrift stores. After the tea has steeped I pour it into the gallon jar and give it a good stir. And that's it! A sweet, simple, money saving alternative to soda and juice. 

Thrifting Thursday: How I decorate on a tight budget

Welcome to my first installment of Thrifting Thursday! Each week I will share with you how our family saves money. Posts will include saving on groceries, thrift store finds, decorating on a budget, parties on a budget and anything else I find to write about that has saved our family tons!

To start with you should all know that my favorite place to shop is the thrift store. Why? Because almost anything we need or want can be found there for very good prices. And it is fun- you never know what you will find! Shopping there has truly been a blessing, it has literally saved our family hundreds of dollars over the years. Any thrift store will do, but I do shop our local Youth Ranch the most because it is close to home. I go almost weekly 1) because our store is always busy so I go often to find the deals 2) they put out new stuff just about daily and 3) they have sales that change almost weekly. I will share with you in a later post on the ins and outs of thrift store shopping that I have learned from both working at thrift stores and shopping them over the years.

But for now let's get on to the savings! We have a tight budget and thrift store finds are one way I have found to make our house feel like home. Usually with a little cleaning, up-cycling, or t.l.c. I can make work what I have found, to match the decor we already have.

The first picture at the top of the post is the decor I have on top of my china hutch in the dining room.
I will focus on the items that have been given or thrifted lately. To start with the USA wood sign was given to me from my good friend Heather, it goes well on top of my flag box. Which I got on a half price sale at the Youth Ranch for only 95 cents. The gold pear (which I think I am going to paint) I got again for half price at only 33 cents.

The small white pillar in this picture I got as well for half price for only 33 cents. And aren't the pet food containers cute! I paid under $4 total for them at a gigantic flea market we go to every Labor Day weekend.

This hangs on the wall in our dining room. I love the stitching, heart buttons and colors of it. It goes perfectly in this room. I purchased it for only 95 cents at the thrift store.

The swan planter sits on our dining table which holds our cloth napkins. I paid 33 cents, again on a half price sale at my local thrift store.

And this guy- I heart him! He is adorable and I only had to pay $4 for him at that same gigantic flea market this last Labor Day weekend.

What are some of your favorite thrifty finds? 

linking up at: Faith filled food for moms

DIY Easter Banner for our Sense of the Resurrection studies

We will be starting our lessons in a Sense of the Resurrection this week and I wanted to share with you how I made our Easter Banner to go with our lessons.

 

I went to Joann's with a couple of coupons and got the chevron material and the heat n bond. I had already gotten the felt and ribbon at Walmart.

  I needed a pattern so that my triangles would be straight. I found one on Pinterest of course here

Using the pattern I made, I cut out all of my triangles. I cut out 6 white felt. I then cut out 12 triangles from the chevron material- from those I will make 6 double sided for added durability. I want to be able to use this banner every Easter. 

Once all the triangles were cut is was time to start putting it all together. I did these steps in several different time settings. It is just how my week was going, so I took advantage of small chunks of time. If I added it all up, I would say it would be under 2 hours to complete. Since I wanted to double side the yellow chevron pattern I started with those first. From reading the instructions (on the heat bond package) I cut strips and placed them on the inside of one chevron pattern and ironed it (no steam) in place. I did this to all three sides of the triangle.

Once the paper strips had cooled, I peeled the paper part off and matched up another chevron triangle on top with the outside of the material facing up. I then ironed it fusing both pieces together. (sorry, I forgot to take a picture of this step) When I had fused all of my chevron triangles together I then had 6 chevron and 6 white felt that I needed to piece together. Along the top of each triangle I iron on a strip of heat n' bond and one by one ironed the matching (gross grain) ribbon to each triangle. 

 Once I was all finished with adhering all 12 to the ribbon I decided that to help it be the most durable I went ahead and ironed on another strip of ribbon to the other side. Putting the ribbon on the both sides also makes it double sided.

Then, because I didn't get the extra hold heat n' bond I did a simple straight stitch on my sewing machine. I don't want it to fall apart next year. So going forward I will remember to get the extra hold stuff (lesson learned).

And that's it! We will actually be adding to the banner in the coming weeks leading up to Easter. Starting tomorrow, we will begin our Easter lessons in our homeschool and I will share what we complete as we go along! Do you have any special Easter lessons planned? Please share. 

linking up at:Faith filled food for moms 

Fun, Fast, Fruit Salad

Once a week Sunshine and I attend a local homeschool coop. It gives her some extra classes during the week, time with friends, and I get to connect with other moms who homeschool. This particular week we had a potluck lunch. I had signed up for a couple of items. One of them was a fruit salad. I forgot to go the the store the night before and so this is what I came up with the morning of. 

Ingredients: 

Frozen mixed berries

2-3 Yoplait blueberry yogurt cups

1 small can pineapple

1 small can mandarin oranges

2 small apples cut cup

3 Tbs powered sugar

1/2 tub cool whip

I first put the yogurt in a bowl then added the powered sugar. I add the sugar because I know the berries are a bit tart. I then add the cool whip and get it all mix in together.

I drain the oranges and pineapple and peel and cut up the apples. These along with the berries all go in to the yogurt mix. I cover and let it set in the fridge for a few hours before serving.

This was really easy and yummy. Any fruit on hand would be delicious and my guess is, just about any flavored yogurt would work too. You could even add marshmallows and coconut if you wanted. I like the fact that I was able to use what I had in the house! Do you have a favorite fruit salad you like to make? Please share!

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 linking up at:Faith filled food for moms 

It all started with a box (part 2)...my journey into my own home business

"Sunshines" 1st birthday cakes: baby jungle theme

2nd birthday party: Minnie Mouse theme

I am still looking for Sunshine's 3rd birthday picks: it was My Little Pony theme

4th birthday party: Princess theme 

We lost the pictures on the camera to her 5th birthday: it was Tom and Jerry theme

6th birthday party: Dolphin theme

From my post here I ended with discussing the recent conversation of "you should do this for people" It got me really thinking and praying. I have been asking the Lord for quite a while about work that I could do from home. I currently work three part time jobs outside the home and with the help of my mother-in-law, homeschool our daughter. Someday I will do a post on how that all works. Add in co-op, 4H, church ministries and all that goes in to keeping a home; my plate is full and I don't believe this is sustainable for me... for us. My heart is for being at home and homeschooling our daughter. But I also need to help contribrute to the budget area. We have become as frugal as they come and we have zero debt besides our home, but things are still tight! I have tried other work at home opportunities that I loved. But they just weren't the best fit for our family. So what else Lord, what can I do?...

In the process of praying and figuring this whole thing out I came across something I read somewhere- to write down what you love, what you are passionate about, what makes your heart soar. I wrote down several things and the funny thing is party designing/planning was not on the list. Creating was but not "party creating". In fact I was in the middle of checking some other opportunities out, when it was again said to me "you know, you should do this"... and the idea hit me. Then the name came: Singing Honey Bee Designs. My name Melissa means honey bee and creating makes my heart sing (and I love to sing too). So with my husbands blessing and lots of prayers I am going on this journey of starting my own kid's birthday party design/planning business. I hope to share with you here the in's and out's, trials and errors of starting a new home business and all the fun parties to come! I am excited, scared, nervous, and did I say excited- about all of this!

What about you? Have you or are you starting your own home business? Please share!

How to save money on chicken

With the crazy prices of food how is one able to stock up the freezer and still have money for other needed things...like gas for the car? Well one way that I have found is to buy my chicken in bulk. A couple of our local grocery stores will sell a bulk box of chicken breasts several times a year. 

This is it:

A 40 lbs box of chicken breasts. I usually will get it unfrozen and I am able to get it ready for the freezer right away. This time I got it frozen so I am having to let it thaw a bit before I can process it. For the entire box it is $59.60 (before tax) which makes it $1.49 a pound. It is a great deal. 

And as you can see, they are big portion sizes. For our family of 3 two breasts this size will more than feed us at any one meal. The first thing I do is get my supplies ready. I pre-cut a stack of freezer paper and grab the masking tape and permanent marker. I then cut the meat in half and trim off extra pieces of fat. For our family I wrap 2 chicken breasts in each freezer paper package. When I am all done I feel like I have been in a butcher shop. So I then disinfect everything really good. When the mess is cleaned up I happily take multiple trips to the freezer in the basement to fill it up! 

This is my third time getting a box of chicken like this. The meat is good and I have never had it go bad before I can use it all up. If you are local the stores I have gotten these from are here and here if you are not local I would call around to your local stores...it wouldn't hurt to ask.
What are some ways you save on meat?

linking up at:Faith Filled Food For Moms