Time to get your thrift on!

I'm always for getting the most bang for your buck. In good financial times or tight times, stretching your dollar is just smart. But I think it's taken the current economic crisis for a lot of America to realize/remember this. (Yes, some of you knew it all along. And, yes, some of you are not from the U.S., have attitudes changed in your home country?)


Enter Thursday Thrift. On Thursdays, Deborah at Bette's Bungalow gives tips for saving money and recipes to make a whole lotta food for less. The chicken and rice recipe I mentioned Monday came from Thursday Thrift, and, I have to say, it was delish!

I believe another edition is on its way today. In the meantime, I'd definitely recommend perusing past posts to inspire your frugal side!

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Photos by me.

From our garden

poppy, originally uploaded by boldavenue.

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Photo by me. More Wordless Wednesday (WW) at wordlesswednesday.com

Keeping kiddos safe in the car

Fabulous post over on SortaCrunchy today on The Pivotal Importance of Car Seat Safety! The safest ways for children to ride in car seats, how long they should be in car seats, the best safety seats...it's all there with plenty of links to even more information.

So even if you think you know everything about kids and safety seats, check it out. You might be surprised.

(And, yes, if you go read it, and it turns out you really did know every single thing there, you can come back and tell me "I told you so.")

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Photo by M J M.

On the menu this week

Even after going to that workshop and getting all these really cool options for menu planning forms, I still write my weekly menu on the back of my grocery list. That way, if I'm at the store and it turns out that romaine is a better deal than spinach, I can flip over the list and see what I was planning on doing with that spinach and if Romaine would work just as well. Handy, huh?

This week I told Jenna at My Joyful Haven that I'd participate in her Chive Talkin' Menu Plan, so I tried to write (a little) more legibly on the back of my list.


But I'll translate anyway.

• Monday - Chicken tacos with black beans and squash. Haven't decided yet if I want the black beans and/or squash to be side dishes or if I'll mix it altogether and call it Steph's Super Taco Filling.
• Tuesday - Planning on trying Deborah's Chicken and Rice Casserole in a Pan.
• Wednesday - We have caregroup that night, so I want to have something that'll be ready to eat as soon as the Hubs comes home. Most likely I'll throw something in the crockpot. I haven't decided what yet.
• Thursday - E and Christine are coming over for some of the fabulous lentil soup the Hubs made. Last time he served it over rice with a fried egg on top (guess that's South America style), and it was actually really good.
• Friday - Got these cute little mini burger patties, which I'll serve on dinner rolls (with all the fixin's, of course) and along with some corn.
  
• Saturday - I'm thinking maybe stir fry. Maybe a version of this one. We'll see how the week goes.
  

Like I said, people like to know what other people are eating! You can share your menu plan, and then link up on My Joyful Haven's Chive Talkin' Menu Plan Blog Roll.

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Photo by me. (My version of Chanelle's Simple Stir Fry.)

7 quick takes: Sweater buzzkills to trending punctuation

7 quick takes on this week and life in general:

(1)
As an Arizona girl, I get excited whenever there's enough of a chill in the air to pull out the sweaters. But, come laundry day, four words kill my cool-weather buzz: reshape and dry flat. :P

(2)
I'm really happy about the response to yesterday's diaper abbreviation post. It's always nice to know you're not the only one who needs/needed something explained to you! I'll be doing another post on diaper terms soon.

(3)
My friend Chanelle just launched her beautiful new photography site! Stop by and check it out!

(4)
"Warning! Eating books could seriously damage your health" is a fabulous and funny post from the Books Blog on the CPSIA's potential ban of pre-1985 books from a UK perspective.

(5)
If you're in the Phoenix area, you should know that, starting today, the Heard Museum is now free third Friday evenings every month! It's also easily accessible from the light rail. I'm hoping to check it out tonight.

(6)
Memo to a barista at an establishment which will remain nameless: I know I gave you a small tip the other day. So I'll give you a bigger one now: Don't get so busy flirting with my friend that you forget to make my mocha. Remember: lattes before hotties!

(7)
For those who are interested in punctuation trends, I used to be really into dashes - this kind, specifically. But, apparently, I've moved on to a new phase: colons.

More Quick Takes, at today's Conversion Diary.

Diapers: what they stand for

Been awhile since we've talked about diapers around here. (Thought we all needed a break.)

Then I heard that Momfessions was doing a Diaper Chatter carnival today, and I thought you know what? It's probably about time to revisit the topic.


So. Cloth diapers.

One big reason people don't use them is because they are unfamiliar. And if go to research them, you quickly run into all these abbreviations and jargon that make it hard to learn anything.


So let's start here...

10 diaper-related acronyms to know:

• AIO - All-in-one (type of cloth diaper)
• BG - bumGenius (diaper brand)
• CD - Cloth diaper(s), cloth diapering
  
• CPF - Chinese prefolds (type of cloth diaper)
• DSQ - Diaper service quality
• EC - Elimination communication (diapering alternative)
  
• FB - Fuzzi Bunz (diaper brand)
• HH - Happy Heinys (diaper brand)
• PF - Prefolds (type of cloth diaper)
• PUL - Polyurethane laminate

And, if you haven't hung out much on forums/blogs/other places where people resort to weird, abbreviated internet-speak, you might find these helpful as well...

10 bonus acronyms (not specific to diapers but come up a lot when you're reading about diapers):

• AP - Attachment parent, attachment parenting
  
• DD - Dear daughter (i.e. "My DD is 3 months old...")
• DH - Dear husband
• DS - Dear son
• DIL - Daughter-in-law
  
• MIL - Mother-in-law
• NB - Newborn
  
• SIL - Sister-in-law, son-in-law (context is everything!)
• SAHM - Stay-at-home mom
• WAHM - Work-at-home mom

Alright, think that's enough for today. HTH! (Hope that helps! ;)


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Photos by Chris and Jenni.

One thing we all secretly care about: lunch

It's been said that no one cares what you had for lunch. (In a book, actually.) But I care. And I'm betting you do too. Ergo, I'm going to tell you what I cooked up the other day when we had leftover pasta (one person's worth), but no leftover sauce.

I started hunting around for something to keep my pasta company. Canned tomatoes? Close. But no protein. Slivered almonds? Not very saucy. Hmmm....I hatched a plan, crossed my fingers and started cooking.



While I re-heated the pasta in the microwave, I toasted the almonds in a little olive oil (that's EVOO for you foodies).


I put those on top of the pasta and sauteed the tomatoes in the same pan. (Somehow cooking those suckers up with a little butter or olive oil takes out the canned taste.) Then those went on top, along with a couple slices of pepper jack cheese.


I stirred it all up, and you know what? I have to say it turned out pretttty good. Especially for a last-minute weekday lunch.


So what's for lunch at your house?

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Photos by me.