Cranberry Orange Bread – Bread Machine

This bread makes the best toast, a great ham sandwich and delicious French toast. 

Cranberry Orange Bread 

2 c. all purpose flour

1 c. whole wheat flour

2½ tsp yeast

2 Tbs. sugar

1 tsp .salt

1 egg

1 Tbs. canola oil

1¼ c. hot orange juice -115°

1/4 c. dried cranberries, chopped 

Select the dough cycle.  Place dry ingredients in pan and select start.  Add juice, oil and egg.  Once dough forms a smooth ball (you may have to add a little flour or water depending on humidity) close lid and allow cycle to run completely. 

Once finished remove dough from machine and knead lightly on a floured surface.  Dough should be smooth and not be sticky.  Butter a 9” X 13” pan.  Roll dough flat as if you are making cinnamon rolls.  Sprinkle with chopped cranberries.  From the short side roll dough into a log tucking ends under and place in lightly greased pan.  Cover with a dish towel and place in a warm, draft free area.  Allow dough to raise until doubled in size, approximately one hour. 

Bake bread in a preheated 400° oven for 25 to 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and brush top with butter. 

Variation: 

Cinnamon Swirl Bread – I make my cinnamon swirl bread the same way.  Substitute hot milk for the juice and 1½ tsp. cinnamon for the cranberries.

The Home Budget – The Three Basic Essentials – Part II

The Three Basic Essentials 

1.                   You need a roof over your head

2.                  You need food in your stomach

3.                  You need clothes on your back 

Everything after that is just gravy. 

Home 

Unfortunately many people got caught upside down in their home mortgages.  Adjustable mortgage rates made ballooning house payments unaffordable.  To compound the problem homeowners couldn’t sell their homes for what they owed due to a sudden and dramatic decline in the real estate market.  Foreclosure rates and short sales soared and the problem still exists today. 

We can learn a lot from this experience.  The biggest lesson is to buy only as much house as you can afford.  To this I would add that you buy only as much home as you truly need.  If you need a larger home to store your boat, RV, four wheelers and a mountain of stuff then you might want to rethink things a bit.  The primary function of your home is store your family not your stuff. 

If you need a larger home because you need more room for your family that is one thing.  But, if you need a larger home because you have too much stuff then that is where common sense makes a hasty departure. 

Food 

You need to healthfully from the four basic food groups.  Every meal needs to include a protein, fruits and vegetables, whole grains and some dairy.  There are inexpensive items you can purchase to fulfill this need.  To curb your grocery bill consider all your options: 

Proteins – peanut butter, legumes, tofu, inexpensive cuts of lean meats and poultry. 

Fruits & Vegetable – fresh produce, frozen vegetables, canned fruits and vegetables 

Whole grains – fortified cereals, bran, whole wheat breads and pastas. 

Dairy – cheese, cottage cheese, milk and yogurt. 

Simple basic nutrition doesn’t have to be expensive.  Compare prices, check the markdown bins, go to a day old bakery or bake your own bread. 

Clothing

Most of us have plenty of clothing in our closets already.  Probably more than we need.  Children tend to outgrow and wear things out faster than adults.  If money is tight consider clothing swaps with friends and relatives.  Fill in the gaps by shopping the clearance racks and thrift stores.  Mend items that need to be sewn, patched or are missing a button.

If you are struggling to meet your basic needs than ask for help, there is no shame in that.  Friends and family may be in a position to gladly offer assistance or assist you to find the help you need.  There are many resources available but sometimes it is difficult to know exactly what they are without asking for help first. 

Know that whatever assistance you need at the moment is only temporary.  Once you are in a better position make sure to pay it forward and lend support when you encounter someone in need no matter how small your contribution may be.

10 Ways To Save On Your Grocery Bill

Here are some tried and true ways to save on your monthly grocery bill: 

1.                   Everyday Cooking Oil – grab an empty Snapple bottle and fill it half way up with olive oil and then the remaining way with canola oil for a less expensive healthy alternative to full on olive oil.

2.                  Make Your Own – make as much as you can yourself for healthier and less expensive options.  Salad dressings, tarter sauce, bread crumbs, croutons, soup stock, cookies, breads and rolls, cakes and pies, etc.

3.                  Buy Produce In Season – you won’t catch me paying $2.98 a pound for a nectarine in winter.  Can fruit and freeze vegetables in the fall to enjoy year round.  Buy fresh produce as it comes in season.  Buy canned, dried or frozen fruits and vegetables when they are not in season to save money.

4.                  Go Meatless - serve at least one meatless meal per week.  Eggs, legumes, tofu, etc.

5.                  Legumes - use dried beans in place of canned for added savings.  Split peas, lentils, pinto, kidney, black or navy beans are loaded with fiber and protein.

6.                  Eat Soup – for $6.99 Olive Garden will feed you all the soup, salad and breadsticks you can eat.  For $6.99 you could probably make soup, a salad and some homemade breadsticks for your entire family and still have a little money left.

7.                 Homemade Bread – stop buying bread at the store make your own bread from scratch.  It is far better tasting and so much less expensive than store bought bread.  You can make different varieties to enjoy so you are never bored.

8.                  Buy In Bulk – more like buy in the bulk foods section.  Spices, nuts and dried fruits are so much less expensive than in the baking goods aisle.  If you aren’t sure you will like something you can purchase just a taste to try it first, which is always nice.  Not everything is a better value but I find that most things really are.

9.                  Buy Markdowns & Clearance Items – I buy a lot of my meat from the markdown bin and quite a bit of dairy too, particularly yogurt, sour cream and cottage cheese.  Add a coupon to it and save even more.  Freeze meats as soon as you get home unless you plan to use them right away.  Save your receipt just in case though.  It seldom happens that these items are already spoiled but it is better to be safe than sorry.

10.             Don’t Over Shop – One thing that is easy to do is buy more than what you can use before it spoils, especially with produce.  If this is a problem for you try scaling back a little bit on the amount of what you normally purchase.

Things To Buy In January

There are always a few items on sale that I can count on every January.  The clearance sales are phenomenal right now: 

·                     Christmas clearance items, especially gift wrap and ornaments

·                     Winter socks, slipper socks and slippers

·                     Coats and outerwear – snow pants, hats, scarves and gloves.

·                     Sweaters

·                     Pajamas

·                     Children’s clothing

·                     Bedding and towels

·                     Costume jewelry 

I have been in need of a new pair of pajamas to replace a pair I’ve had for ten years.  Last night I stopped at ShopKo because I knew they would have everything marked down on clearance by now and I was right. 

Because I have really long legs ladies pajama pants always fit me like capris pants so I purchase mine from the men’s department.  I was able to find a pair of flannel pajama pants for $8.99 regularly priced $29.99 and in the ladies department a coordinating top for $7.99 regularly $19.99. 

I also found a pair of sterling silver earrings for $3.99 that had been regularly priced at $39.99 so I decided to treat myself. 

We walked the entire store to see what all they had and although we didn’t need anything else there were plenty of great bargains to be had. 

If you have a few items on your needs list and some extra cash to spend now may be the time to buy. 

Tip:  Watch the register as they ring up your items.  Last night I noticed the pajama pants rang up at $11.99. After the clerk did a price check for me he reduced them to the $8.99 I was expecting.

My New Years Goals

Last year’s big goal was to pay off my car by year end and I am happy to report I managed to do that last month.  The title arrived in the mail right after Christmas. 

It was my goal to do that last year, however when my daughter broke her arm and the bills came in just under our major medical insurance deductible I had to do some re-adjusting.  Sometimes things happen and when they do I think it is important not to lose focus on your goals.  You just have to keep trying. 

This year I have set new goals: 

·                     Increase my savings and retirement contributions

·                     Pay down my mortgage (this is the next thing I plan to pay off)

·                     Take my girls to Disney Land

·                     Work less; play more 

I have other smaller ones in mind as well and if all goes well I hope to replace the TV in the living room.  It currently has half a dozen white lines running across the top of the screen.  As long as you watch in widescreen you are fine but full screen isn’t so great.  A new TV would be nice but not a huge priority.

Have you set any goals to achieve this year?

Salads

After all the sweets and rich foods from the holidays nothing tastes better to me than a crisp fresh salad and lots of it.  I serve a lot of salad as a side dish with supper and I usually take leftover salad in my lunch for work too.  I try to make them healthy and delicious with as much variety as possible to assuage boredom and monotony all while maintaining my tight grocery budget. 

I start with a bed of greens, usually a combination of spinach and romaine.  I buy romaine hearts, 3 in a bag for $1.98.  They last a long time and have more nutrition and far better flavor than your standard iceberg lettuce.  I also add baby spinach leaves to amp up the flavor and nutrition factor.  Baby spinach runs me about $1.38 for a good sized bag and usually lasts me about two weeks.  Since spinach goes the fastest I use it up first and then switch to coleslaw mix at 98¢ a bag. 

I try to add a minimum of three things to my salads in addition to the greens: 

·                     Grape tomatoes, black olives, feta cheese

·                     Sliced tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, marinated artichoke hearts

·                     Diced tomato, green olives, cheddar cheese

·                     Tomato wedges, slice hard cooked egg, sliced black olives

·                     Dried cranberries, chopped pecans or walnuts, feta cheese

·                     Diced tomato, peperoncini slices, black olives

·                     Sliced red beets, kidney beans, dill pickle slices

·                     Chopped red or green bell pepper, grape tomatoes, sliced cucumber

·                     Sliced red pepper, black olives, cubed mozzarella cheese

·                     Black olives, croutons, sliced hard cooked egg, parmesan cheese

·                     Sliced radishes, chopped cucumber, raisins

·                     Red onion slices, diced tomato, peperoncini slices, black olives

·                     Chopped green apple, raisins, chopped pecans or walnuts

·                     Sliced almonds, chopped dried apricots, feta cheese 

Here is just a sampling of the salads I like to make.  You can quickly change this from a side dish to a main course simply by adding additional protein: 

·                     Sliced grilled chicken breast

·                     Roasted chicken or lemon chicken, shredded or chopped

·                     Sliced steak

·                     Tuna or salmon

·                     Shrimp or crab

·                     Hard cooked eggs

·                     Taco meat

·                     Kidney beans

·                     Chili

·                     Cheese

·                     Sliced ham or turkey 

The possibilities are endless.  Keep it healthy by limiting the amount and type of salad dressing you use.  Vinaigrettes tend to be the healthiest and are easy and inexpensive to make yourself.  You can always serve it on the side and dip too if you’d like. 

Tip:  Spinach starting to wilt a little and go limp?  Put it in your soup pot.  Adds additional nutrition and you won’t have to let it go to waste.  Looks pretty and great flavor too!

The Home Budget – Part I

Do you have a home budget?  If you do, great!  If not, then seriously consider having one. 

I run my household as if it were a business.  All businesses have a goal and my household is no different.  Business goals vary depending on a lot of different things and households can be the same way.  The key is to have a goal.  My household goal (also known as a mission statement) is simple: 

Live extremely well within our means. 

The goal is simple but getting there takes a little work and to do this requires planning and a structured budget.  It also takes some self-discipline. 

A budget is quite simply allocating the maximum available funds to certain expenses.  To do this effectively you must know two things: 

Your Income – all of the money coming into your household 

Expenditures - all of the money going out of your household.

Know Your Income – List all income you consistently bring into your household on a monthly basis.  Sporadic revenue sources (tax refunds, bonuses, irregular child support payments, seasonal work, etc.) should not be included in this amount. 

Establish a Budget – Determine the maximum amount you can easily afford to spend on the various expenditures within your household. 

Home Mortgage or Rent

Child Care

Utilities

Groceries

Non-Food Household Items

Medical

Auto – gas, insurance, maintenance, registration, emission testing, etc.

Transportation – bus passes, transit passes, carpool, etc.

Debt repayment – loans, credit cards, student loans, medical bills, etc.

Savings – retirement, emergency fund, savings account, college fund, vacation fund

Gifts 

Track Your Expenses - I track my expenses, all money heading out, on a spreadsheet.  Tracking your expenses is the only way to know exactly where your money is going.  Guessing never works and for those who have tried it, they are shocked when they discover how far off they are.  Tracking your expenses will ensure that you stay within the budgeted amount you have allocated. 

Structure Bill Payments – Based on your pay dates and the due dates of your bills list which items get paid on certain dates so they are paid on time and you avoid late charges, interest and/or penalties. 

Whether you use budget software, a spreadsheet in Excel or a spiral bound notebook you purchased for 10¢ at the back-to-school sale last fall it doesn’t really matter.  What matters most is that you have a budget in place and you stick to it. 

As time goes on we’ll explore budgeting in more detail.  Do you already have a budget in place?