Friday, October 30, 2015

October Ispy Review

This month's Ipsy bag was small and gold. I personally am not a fan of the color gold.

There is 1 product that is not in the picture that is Skone Cosmetics Pretty Eyes eyeliner. It came in the shade of Plum. I love the color and retails for 15.00
BWC (Beauty Without Cruelty) Is a Fragrance Free Hand and body lotion that retails for 7.65
Nourish Organic Pure Hydrating Argan Face Serum is used to brighten and revitalize complexion. It also smooths texture and helps even out your tone. It retails for 16.92
Next up was IT Cosmetics Hello Lashes. The handle on this is wonderful! It retails for  24.00
The last thing in the picture is my favorite from Ipsy this month!
It's theBalm Cosmetics Meet Matt(e) Hughes Long-Lasting Liquid Lipstick in the shade of Committed. It retails for 18.00

The Befine Cucumber Facial Mask I got from spending the points I had earned. I can't wait to use this product.

Over all I am completely pleased with what was in my Ipsy bag this month! I can not wait to try everything and give you the details of how everything looked and felt in my Monthly Empties Blog!
Do you have an Ipsy account? What did you get? What did you love?



Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Planning A Dinner of Thanks


Yes not only am I planning our family's Christmas I am also planning our Thanksgiving dinner.
Now Thanksgiving is the easier of the 2 holidays for me to plan for. First things first even though I love to be frugal and with Christmas being frugal is key in this family I will not do any black Friday/ Thursday evening shopping. Call me old fashion but Thanksgiving to me is about spending time with the people I love. The Friday after Thanksgiving is time for me to start on putting up our Christmas decorations.

I will planning breakfast and dinner for Thanksgiving. This is a day when I will be in the Kitchen  ALL DAY!

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Evolution of the family dinner

Over the next few weeks I am going to be giving my take of a T.V. series I found about the evolution of the family dinner. I have found this series completely fascinating. BBC has been known to do social experimental T.V. shows. This show is called Back in Time for Dinner
you can watch it here:
https://youtu.be/oLtMeBafJAE
This week I be talking about the 1950's.
Now there is a big difference between Britain and American in the 1950's. The British still were being rationed with food, where as American was not. Rationing ended in Britain in 1954.
Victory gardens were still being grown in England.
This website offer's 1950's recipes

This was a time when we shopped at what we now call "mom and pop" shops. If you needed meat you went to the butchers, if you need can goods you went to a grocers and if you didn't make your own bread you bought it from a bakery. The 1st thing you notice about the kitchen in the show is how bare it was, Everything was low tech. There was no extra money to be spent on treats and 1/3 of families income was spend on food. (which from 1950 to 1954 there was not a lot of)
All of there meals were prepared using the National Food Survey that Britain had. They asked 8000 wives from 1940 to 1999 what they ate weekly. It is the only survey like it.

Wives worked 72 hours a week cleaning and cooking. WOW!


There are 3 meals a day still however it was called breakfast, supper and dinner. The largest meal was supper (what we would call lunch now)

The men would go to work and the wife would stay home and yes, clean and raise the children, This was a time when women were proud of the homes and a big part of that pride was making sure it was always presentable.

I personally remember my grandmother would be in the kitchen all day cooking. She would get up before the sun came up cook a huge breakfast. Once breakfast was done she was all the dishes and start on supper, (and this was in the 1980's) We would always have family dinner's at the table, This was also true with my parents. They are very found memories.

There weren't snacks filled with sugars and even though the family in the program had to make do with their rations they did make sure not to waste what they had.

The thing that made me say YUCK was the dripping on the bread. I understand why they did it but still YUCK!

I felt even though the wife in the series felt like she was trapped in the kitchen the whole week the food was pure and didn't have all the additives we have now. I really think that due to the no additives, even with the drippings and bread, the family ate healthier.
I think we can all learn a lot from the 1950's family when it comes to eating as a family.

Also I have read that people now go on the ration diet and have great success with it.

But how does the family evole from the 1950's to the 1960's? We will have to wait til next week to find out.

Monday, October 26, 2015

Weekly Menu October 24 - October 30, 2015

 I finally finished my recipe page! This will make my Monday menu's much easier! This weeks menu is things that are easy to make. With all the rain we have been having I'm wanting foods that will warm our bellys.

Saturday:


 Cajun Chicken Alfredo
recipe is found here:


Sunday:


Crockpot Buffalo Chicken
Recipe is found here:

Monday:

Cheesy Taco Soup
Recipe is found here:

Tuesday:

Crockpot Jambalaya
Recipe is found here:

Wednesday:

Breakfast Casserole
Recipe is found here:

Thursday:

Left Over’s

Friday:

Out to dinner with my parents

Sunday, October 11, 2015

This week

Hello all!

 I am taking a week off from posting new blogs. I will be working on a new section of my blog to make looking for my recipes easier. I am having to put my all into this part of the blog. Don't worry I will be back next week!

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Cleaning up

This week I focused on a few areas that needed some attention. First was the pantry. We don't have 1 area that has all our pantry items. We have 3 different places we store our dry goods and they were a mess. So I emptied all of them onto our dinning room table and started fresh.





MESSY Huh?
Well after wiping out all the cabinets it all got organized.




I even brought back the drink area with hot tea and coco for the kids


WHEW! Not quite done yet! It was time to go through my closet and get rid of cloths I don't wear anymore.Plus I wanted to change some stuff around in the room. Now I don't actually have a closet. It's a pole hanging from the ceiling in our office area. (1940 house had small closets)


UGH this is going to be a chore! Took my B12 and got to work! What a reward!




Next week will be the baseboards and Vacuuming the furniture Plus I think hubby is power washing the outside of over windows!








Thursday, October 8, 2015

The start of our fall/winter shopping

I have started shopping for my family's fall and winter clothes. Now on our family budget I cannot run our and buy everyone new clothes. So I start with 2nd hand stores. Living in Dallas I do have a lot to choose of places I can visit. Now the 1st thing about 2nd hand stores to watch for if it's a store that takes donations or buys their clothes. The prices of clothes will differ and places that buy that buy used clothes will charge more.
This weekend I went to our local Goodwill store. I only walked out with 3 items however I still have more places to go this coming weekend. So far I have spent $8.50 for all 3 Items.
The first was a scarf I thought was wonderful.
The next thing I got was a red sweater for myself. I am always on the look out for sweaters.
The hubby has asked for more long sleeve shirts so I did find 1 of the 5 I plan on getting him.



Tuesday, October 6, 2015

September's Empties Review

As you are aware I love trying beauty products. I love showing you want I get in my boxes however that is usually the end of it, until now.
I am going to review the products I have used and are now empty for last month.


Pur-lisse Pur-delicate soy milk cleanser 1oz-  Full size bottle retails for $36.00.
 I got this in my July Ipsy bag. I did like how it cleaned my face, however, when it came to my eyes it didn't do a good job.

Dr. Jart+ BB Night Beauty Balm .17oz- Full size bottle retails for $38.00
I got this in my June Birchbox. It took me a solid week of ever night putting this on for it to empity. It states it suppose to fight signs of aging. With only a weeks worth of cream I could not see a difference.

Mary Kay Satin Hand Peach Hand Cream .75 oz-  Full size bottle retails for $10.00
I got this a free sample at a party I had went to. Now I am super picky about hand creams. This one left my hands sticky and I didn't like it. I had it my purse for 6 months as emergency lotion.


Number 4 Super Combo prep & protect 1.0 oz- Full size bottle retails for $32.00
I got this in my May Birchbox. I loved this product. It made styling my hair easier.



Lavanila body butter .85 oz - Full size bottle retails for $19.00
I got this is my June Ipsy Bag. OMG! I loved this product. I took my time going through this because I didn't want it to end. It left my hands feeling silky and it smelled divine. I am putting this on my Christmas list!

Mary Kay Timewise Microdermabrasion Step 1 2.5 Oz and Step 2  1 Oz- Retails for ( I think) I paid $50.00.
I got this for my birthday last year for myself. I had previously tried BeautiControl's Microderm and I loved it. This was not the same. I just didn't see a difference and I didn't like it.



Coola SPF 30 Cucumber Moisturizer for face .24 Oz - Full size retails for $32.00
I got this in my July Birchbox. Smell- LOVED IT! It went on smooth I just LOVED this product.

Coolway Beachy Salt Spray .5 Oz - Full Size bottle retails for $ 12.95
I got this in my July Ipsy bag. I thought, "Why not try it!" Oh wait I remember now, I hated the Galveston Salt water in my hair. It makes my hair feel heavy and dirty. NO THANKS!

Naobay Oxygenating Cream Moisturizing .67 Oz - Full Size bottle retails for $ 36.00
I got this is my May Birchbox. I was super bummed when I had no more! I would apply this a night and my face was super soft in the morning. This was my favorite product. I loved, loved, loved it.




Monday, October 5, 2015

Monday Menu October 5, 2015

I'm going to admit this up front. I think I have gained 4 pounds! (doesn't sound like much but it is!)Even though I was eating what was our menu I have been munching on a lot of unhealthy foods. SO I'm putting myself on a diet, kind of. I hate the word diet, I think of it as starving myself of good food my body needs. So after talking to my wonderful hubby about portion sizes I have come to the conclusion that our family is eating the "American portion" sizes and I feel this needs to stop. I found on Web MD  a great article about this subject. you can read about it here: http://www.webmd.com/diet/20030822/french-secrets-to-staying-slim
One great example is the Bolt House juice I bought. The serving size stated on the bottle 2, however, following the French serving size of 6 oz I have figured out that I will get 3 serving from each bottle.
This a great blog about French Portion Sizes: https://becomingmadame.wordpress.com/2012/09/06/eating-like-the-french-no-2-portion-size/

So I am going to start cooking smaller portion sizes. The 1st night I did this was Saturday night and it worked out great. Everyone wasn't overly full but was satisfied. We sat at the dinning room table and had a great dinner. I had even made desert for the kids.  I am going to make sure we are eating healthier with our food.

Now last weeks menu fell into this week due to Momma getting sick and not wanting to cook because, well I just couldn't,

Saturday:

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner: Chicken Fajitas with Cinnamon Dessert Nachos

Momma only had 1 Cinnamon Nacho chip and no ice cream. The Kids LOVED it



Sunday:

Lunch: Leftover chicken fajitas (hubby took to work) I had 1 fried egg and half of a bagel
Dinner: Crock Pot Buffalo Wings
Monday:

Lunch: Salad for me. Fried Chicken for Hubby
Dinner: Nacho Casserole
This is a Family Favorite I won’t have any leftovers

Tuesday:

Lunch: Salad for me. Boneless Buffalo wings for Hubby
Dinner: Chicken, Broccoli and Cheese Casserole
Another Family Favorite

Wednesday:

Lunch: Salad for me. Fried Chicken for Hubby
Dinner: Chicken Noodle Soup
I love fall and winter I get to start making my soups again!

Thursday:

Lunch: Soup and Salad for me. Fried Chicken or Leftovers for Hubby
Dinner: Left Over’s

Friday:

Lunch: Salad for me. Fried Chicken or Leftovers for Hubby
Dinner: Crock Pot Cajun Chicken Spaghetti
This is a new recipe I cannot wait to try!

As always I will be updating this post with the recipes and pictures on Wednesday and Saturday of next week.


Sunday, October 4, 2015

Grocery Haul

Good Morning Beautiful People another grocery haul has happened. I did get some great deals on this trip to Kroger's.

Bolt house smoothies were buy one get one free at $2.99 each. I bought a berry one and a C boost one and spent $2.99 total for it. Each drink is 2 servings so for my "sweet tooth" moments I have these quick smoothies.

Thomas Bagels also were  buy one get one free at $3.99 each. I saw they had Pumpkin Spice Bagels. I could resist. So I got it and a plain bagel package. This is a great for the kids to be able to eat as they run out the door.

For the Hubby I try to do at least 1 grab and go lunch. That's what I call it. It's pre-made food from the deli. I only get it if there is a sale. Well He lucked out! The boneless Buffalo Wings were $2.19 and the Fried Chicken was $4.79. With the Fried Chicken he'll get 3 lunches out of it.

This week I planned for Salads to be the main side dish for our meals and I lucked out! Dole's Salads were marked down for a quick sale to .99 cent. I got 5 of them for dinner and 2 for my lunches.WOO HOOO!

Over all I spent $89.84 on Groceries leaving my monthly balance of $350.00 to $260.16.
I also spent $15.75 on Toiletry items. I got some B 12 it was also buy one get one free that were $7.99 each.
 So my total at Kroger's was $105.59.
I saved $31.36, GO ME!

Friday, October 2, 2015

Using a Secret Garden

I am super excited to post this. I wasn't sure if I should make this a Vlog or Blog. Blog won due to me being sick earlier this week.

 I have posted before about my organizer and how I love it. Over the past 2 years of using it I started realizing I was leaving it at home more and more because of how big it was. So I searched and searched for a planner that was smaller and would fit in my purse and I FOUND IT!

It's the Secret Garden Planner and I paid $12.00 for it from Amazon.


 I fell in love with the colors on the cover and the way the weekly planner is laid out. I have been using it for a week and it's great. I even decorated this weeks page.


Now as for my old planner, it's still in use. It holds our budget and the family calendar for everyone to write in. It will also hold our weekly menus, size charts and emergency numbers. So it's going to be the household planner and stay in a family area for everyone to use.

SUPER EXCITED!

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Halloween Wreath

Can you believe we are already in October? I can't!

When I made my 1st monthly wreath in December 2014 I was actually worried I would completely suck at making these wreaths. As I look for inspiration I see these huge wreaths with tons of stuff on them and that's just not my style. I have over the months taken bits and pieces from different wreaths and made them my own. The largest wreath I've made was August, and I love that wreath.

 So when it came to October I had and idea. I didn't want something scary or a witch fling into my door. You know the ones. I like looking at those I think they are really inventive. I wanted something classic. When I think of  Halloween it may surprise some of my friends the 1st 2 things that comes to mind is H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allen Poe. No I'm not that good to do a Cthulhu wreath, although that would be cool, No No Donna nothing scary. Right let's get back on track Poe it is. Ravens, a tortured soul that Mr. Poe was and not to mention he did die mysteriously.

So I went looking for a raven, Not a big raven I wanted something small, Micheal's had it. Now for 2 black roses. (the roses are not from Poe) Their for me, see my birthday is November 1 so seeing roses everyday until my birthday would make me happy.Then we got these round black balls,(no clue why they were cool looking) A Styrofoam wreath and 2 fat quarters of orange fabric. I wasn't going to go all black on this wreath, my 16 year old self would have, However the woman I have become I have excepted color in my life. I got out of Micheal's $19.20 light in my wallet and headed home to work on this wreath, Completely inspired by myself, my thoughts and my feelings about what Halloween was to me. Due to my birthday being the next day Halloween was always my rite of passage to new year.