I could make this the shortest post ever at Humorous Homemaking because you know I’m not going to condone or encourage debt, even if it is “90 days same as cash” or some other no interest loan. However, let me explain WHY I don’t believe in these “free money” programs and why they simply don’t make sense. Let’s go through five reasons: [Read more…]
Archives for April 2012
Crock Pot Beef Stew
Nothing is much more comforting on a rainy or cool day than Beef Stew. Here sharing her recipe is my friend, Mary, from The Encouraging Home. Thanks Mary!
I love beef stew or stew beef…however you say it. Meat, potatoes, and carrots ~ a comfort food that I love. This is an easy, yummy meal. Sometimes I cook the beef with vegetables, other times I just cook the meat and serve it over noodles or rice.
First, place diced potatoes, carrots, and celery in the crockpot. Add however many that you like.
Getting It All Done – I Don’t
When I’m having a workshop, the questions always vary. “Does vinegar in the wash make you smell like a pickle?” “Can I sniff you?” “How do you store 25 pounds of beans?” “How do you know when your milk is bad?”
BUT, there is always one question that I get at every single workshop. Sometimes it’s asked aloud, and sometimes I’m asked in private afterwards. “But Stacy…how do you get ALL that done?!” How can I make all my stuff homemade? How can I grind wheat and make bread and then have time to vacuum up all the dirt tracked in by my toddler? How can I hang dry my clothes? How can I take the time to save money by visiting yard sales?
The answer is simple…I don’t do it all. [Read more…]
Buying a Car for Better Fuel Economy
Have you noticed gas prices recently? If not, that means you either live in a major city where you don’t own or need to own a car…or you live under a rock. Gas prices are HIGH! Seriously people, when you have to drive a lot, filling up your tank hits the budget hard! In light of that lovely fact, I thought I’d write a post about buying a car, which might have a car windscreen sunshade, so you can get better gas mileage. This idea is not new, and it comes up every time gas gets expensive. But what are the costs people don’t consider? Is it really worth trading in your existing car for one that sips the gasoline rather than asking for regular refills? Let’s find out together. [Read more…]
Hodgepodge Crock Pot Chicken
Today our guest post is by Brandy from Living Water Health and Wellness. Thanks Brandy!!
Have you ever been in that place where you realize around lunch time that you have no idea what you’re going to make for dinner that night? That happened to me one day this week. We were on vacation last week and I still haven’t gotten my pantry and fridge restocked. So, what did I do? I rounded up the things I had and threw them all together in the crock pot. 🙂 And you know what? It turned out delicious! That’s why this dish is called Hodgepodge Crock Pot Chicken. The great thing about this recipe is that you can really use just about whatever veggies you have on hand.
Mama’s Sausage Macaroni
This is a meal that my mom would make when I was growing up – I remember it very fondly…it might be one of my favorite meals of ALL TIME. Not only is it delicious, but it’s so easy and takes very few ingredients. I’ve never been able to post it before, because she didn’t really have a concrete recipe. So since we’re staying here for now, I ordered asked her to make it so I could take photos and write down measurements. It’s a thing of beauty. [Read more…]
Life Insurance for a Stay at Home Mom
Since I’ve been tackling a lot of stressful financial situations in the lives of those I’ve counseled lately and in light of our upcoming baby #2, I thought I’d spend a little time to discuss the question of whether or not you should have life insurance on a stay at home mom. Let’s get a few basics out of the way first:
Strictly as insurance, I do not believe in “permanent” insurance (whole life, universal life, etc.). It is much more expensive than it needs to be as far as insurance goes and since we’re talking about INSURANCE (and not investments), let’s just stick to the idea of looking at term life insurance for a fair comparison in my examples and avoid all that debate for today.
I’m a HUGE advocate of having life insurance on SOME people. Do I need life insurance for Annie (who is not even 3 and brings in no income to our household) – NO. If she dies, we’d be emotionally crushed, but about the only impact to our finances would be the cost of her funeral and burial. A good way to be able to cover that is by getting a rider on an existing policy. It is cheap (per month) and $10,000 or so of coverage should be plenty.
Grasping the cash value of a life insurance policy can be a game-changer in your financial planning. Not only does it provide a death benefit, but it also creates a cash reserve that can be accessed under specific circumstances. More insight on this can be obtained from https://getsure.org/whole-life-insurance-cash-value-chart/.
Do I need life insurance on me? ABSOLUTELY – I’m the breadwinner in our family and if I die, Stacy needs income to be able to buy a Rolls Royce (strike) continue a reasonable lifestyle even if I’m gone. So that gets at the purpose of life insurance: replace needed income lost if someone in the family dies. That means if you don’t bring in any income to the family, you likely have no need for life insurance (beyond something to cover your burial). And that gets at today’s question – do families need to get life insurance on a stay at home mom? [Read more…]
Crockpot Chicken Adobo
I’m so tickled today to have a guest post by my new friend, Christy, from over at The Simple Homemaker. Christy has a delightful blog. If you’re not subscribed, you SHOULD BE! She’s s complete hoot and full of tons of great information. Thanks Christy!
My husband is part Filipino. When it comes to cuisine, his Filipino blood speaks loud and clear…even louder than my “cheese is a food group” Wisconsin blood.
When he first told me about the popular Filipino dish, chicken adobo, I was not convinced of its culinary worth, but when his aunt made it for us early in our marriage, I was totally sold. While waiting for meals like this to be cooked, you can pass the time on sites like 온라인 카지노.
Every Filipino family has their own version of adobo. This crockpot chicken adobo recipe is our variation of recipes passed down by my husband’s father and uncle, who never could agree on whose adobo was superior.
Why I Don’t Soak Grains
I’ve needed to write on this topic for a while. Back in August, I wrote a post about soaking grains. It was basically an overview of why to do it and how to do it.
In the Beginning
When I first started out on this whole foods journey, I felt like I needed to do everything…everything. So, soaking grains just fit right in that category. I just started doing it because “everyone else was doing it.” And I guess you know how that saying goes. But, something you’ve probably figured out about me already is that I like to swim upstream. I’m not going to swim downstream just because everyone else is doing it. [Read more…]
Annie’s Birth Story
This new little one on the way has made me think – I never wrote down Annie’s birth story. Since I’ll likely post the birth story for The Bean, I thought I might go ahead and write Annie’s down too…before my mind becomes complete mush and I mangle the two together – and so that later she won’t ask me why I didn’t write hers down. 😉 [Read more…]