My Family's Rewarding New Evening Ritual (+ Can You Do Me a Big Favour?)

 Images courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

If there's one thing I've learned, it's that sometimes the simplest changes we choose to make can be some of the most rewarding. Many moons ago when I still outweighed my boys by a considerable amount, there used to be that natural evening rhythm of snuggling up with a lapful of freshly washed, footsy-sleepered boys and reading them a story or three before tucking them into bed.

As the boys went and got bigger, and we all got involved in more evening activities, that ritual fell by the wayside. As I feel the clock ticking ever louder towards the day when one or both of the boys will no longer be living with us full-time, I realized I really missed how we used to all gather together at the end of the day. 

I wracked my brain trying to figure out a way we could all reconnect at the end of the day in a way that felt easy, fun and not forced - something we would ALL look forward to. Then one day I thoght about how much we all enjoy playing games together around the campfire on our family camping trips, and how seldom we seem to play games when we're NOT camping.

Thus, our new routine of spending 30-45 minutes playing games together was born! We decided we'd commit to doing this Monday through Thursday, as on Friday and Saturday evenings the boys tend to spend time with their friends and Joe & I with ours (or each other) and Joe plays hockey on Sunday nights throughout much of the year.

We have a standing "appointment" at 9:30 p.m. for each of these four evenings, and each night a different person gets to pick the game. We also agreed that ALL screens would go off for the night prior to our commencing game time, which has been good for all four of us (and given that late-night screen time is supposed to disrupt your sleep, we're probably all sleeping better because of it).

It's ended up being so relaxing and fun, and great "bonding" time with some good (and usually very entertaining) conversation. We all look forward to this time together, and it just feels like the perfect way to wind down the day.

So, what are we playing? I'll admit we're a little short on good 4 player board games right now.  Our favourites are tile rummy, Uno, President and Whoonu, with the boys often requesting trivia games (we have a Harry Potter trivia game and Star Wars Trivial Pursuit). We do have a Scrabble set, but no one else in the the house wants to play with me because I'm pretty much going to win :) I'm going to keep my eyes open this yard sale season to see if I can find some other good games, and we really need to learn more card games, too!

I can't believe how much this simple idea has enriched our family life - and it didn't cost us a thing except the willingness to make this time commitment to one another.

Do you have a favourite family ritual you do with your older kids? Or do you have a good 4-player game to recommend?

While you're here, can I ask you a favour? I know many of my blog readers have been some of my book's biggest supporters, and I am so grateful for all of you that have purchased the book and helped spread the word about it. If you do have a copy of the book (or even if you've read a friend's or a library copy) would you consider reviewing it for me on Amazon? I'm doing a Book Review Campaign right now with the goal of adding 15 new reviews to the several wonderful ones that are already there. You don't need to have purchased the book on Amazon in order to review it there!

You can find more details on why this is so important to me, and how to do an effective review, by clicking HERE (this will open up a PDF file). Thanks to all of you who are willing to take this on (it should only take about 15-20 minutes of your time). 
 

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An Update on My Morning Routine

Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

At the beginning of January I shared that my big goal for this year was to get my daily and weekly routines under control. Now that we're a few weeks into the year, I thought it was about time to share an update on what I feel is the key routine of them all: My morning routine.

Why do I think it's the most important? Because the way I start my morning sets the tone for the whole day. The smoother things go in the first couple of hours after I get out of bed, the more likely it is that the rest of the day will be enjoyable and productive. I'm really satisfied overall with my progress in establishing a solid morning routine, especially since I am NOT a morning person by any stretch of the imagination :)

Here's how my morning looks these days:
7 a.m. get up and put on coffee
7:15 - 7: 35 meditate
7:35 - 8:10 shower and dress (oil pulling and energy medicine techniques that I talked about here are also incorporated into shower time!)
8:10 - 8:30 talk to my son while he eats breakfast and finishes getting ready for school
8:30 - 8:45 do "brain training" on Lumosity (this is another new thing for me this year - the whole family is doing it and we really like it!)
8:45 - 9:00 nail down my to-do list for the day and double check sports/extracurricular schedules/appointments
9:00 - 9:30 email/social media (most days, unless I have an early appointment)

I usually eat breakfast somewhere in that 8:45 - 9:30 p.m. time period as well. I don't like to eat right after I get up and I like to graze in the morning so I eat really slowly while I'm getting some of my early morning tasks done :) From thereon in I can go on to a variety of different tasks depending on what commitments I have for the day and what else I need to accomplish.

I've managed to be surprisingly consistent with this routine so far. As I mentioned in my earlier post I've had a tendency to resist formal routines in the past. I was motivated to commit to this new routine as I really wanted to feel like my mornings were under better control.

Getting in the habit of meditating first thing in the day has been a really huge breakthrough for me - it definitely helps me stay more calm and centred throughout the rest of the day. It's well worth the 20 minute time investment!

This routine is starting to feel pretty natural, which is nice - initially I had to stay pretty focused to keep myself on task but it's definitely feeling a lot easier now than it did in the beginning. Once cycling season rolls around, I'll probably need to make further adjustments to incorporate my morning ride into the mix, but I'm hoping that won't be too hard now that I've build a solid foundation.

Hurray for progress!

Some of my other routines are coming along nicely, too, while a few others are still a little (or a lot) rough around the edges. I'll be sharing my progress on more of my routines as we make our way through the year, so stay tuned for further updates.

Do you have a specific morning routine that help your day run more smoothly?

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5 of My Frugal (and Kind of Quirky) Daily Health Habits

If you take a quick flip through any womens' magazine these days, you're likely to get the impression that you have to spend a small fortune on gym memberships, expensive supplements and other "essentials" for good health. This isn't really helpful for anyone whose budget is a bit on the lean side. I absolutely think that many of the most powerful things you can do to support your health are very low cost (or even free!) To illustrate my point, I thought I'd share some examples of my daily health habits that cost little or nothing but that have had a strong impact on my overall wellness.

1. Meditation: This is my new daily habit that I mentioned in my post on my new routines for 2014. I've been really consistent with this so far and am up to 16 minutes now - hurray! Meditation is a tool that's available to absolutely anyone - after all it's completely free and you don't even need any equipment to get started (yes, I know a gorgeous meditation cushion would be nice, but a chair will do just fine). The documented health benefits of daily meditation seem nearly miraculous - it's so powerful that researchers at Harvard found that after 2 months of daily mediation, the genes of the study participants that help fight inflammation, kill diseased cells and protect the body from cancer all began to switch on (more details here). Pretty incredible stuff! Meditation is also known to boost overall immunity and help calm and focus the mind as well as improve memory. With all those benefits, I'm extremely motivated to stick with my new habit :)

2. Oil pulling: This technique has been growing in popularity the past few years, so you *might* have heard it mentioned somewhere. Basically, this practice involves swishing (or "pulling") oil around in your mouth for about 15 minutes or so, first thing in the morning before you eat (organic coconut or sesame oil are most commonly used). Sounds weird, I know, but it's an ancient Ayurvedic practice purported to have many health benefits. The reason I was drawn to it was that I've struggled with oral health issues (despite fastidious oral hygiene) and I thought I didn't have much to lose by giving it a try. My mouth definitely feels the cleanest it ever has after my daily oil pulling (I follow it up by a salt water rinse, then brush my teeth). I do the oil pulling while I'm in the shower, so it doesn't take any "extra" time in and of itself. You can read more about oil pulling here and here if you want to know more about it!

3. Nettle tincture: I began using my own homemade nettle tincture to help with my seasonal allergies this spring, but when I did more research and discovered its wide-ranging health benefits, I decided to make this herb part of my daily life year-round. I take a dropperful of tincture once a day.

4. Afternoon Herbal tea: Okay, drinking herbal tea isn't all that quirky I guess, although the one I brew up for my "afternoon pickup" is a lot different than most of those you will get prepackaged in a box! I wrote in more detail here about exactly what's in my afternoon cup of tea and why I picked those specific ingredients. I've been adding about ¼ - ½ tsp or so of rosehips to this basic blend for an extra immune boost during cold and flu season. This only takes me a couple of minutes to put together and not only is it packed full of health promoting goodness, it's pretty tasty too. If you don't have access to high quality herbs locally, I highly recommend Mountain Rose Herbs - their prices are great and the quality is fantastic. 

5. Acupressure and Energy Medicine: I wrote about this topic almost 3 years ago here on the blog - you can find that post here.  While this goes well beyond quirky for some people :) my personal experience is that these techniques can be extremely powerful. I do a modified version of this 5 minute energy routine developed by Donna Eden as part of my morning routine and I may add in some specific acupressure techniques as well, depending on whether I feel I need some further support in either the physical or mental health department :) Acupressure's usually one of the first things I turn to for acute issues like nosebleeds, motion sickness, headaches, earaches, congestion, etc. as well. If you're interested in trying out acupressure, you can find a variety of YouTube videos on this topic here or for more detailed information the book Acupressure's Potent Points is an excellent resource.

While I have found that all of the above practices have enhanced my personal health and well being, as always I encourage you to do your own research before starting any new health regimen, and consulting with your health practitioners if necessary. And yes, that link to Mountain Rose Herbs is an affiliate link :)
 

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This Year's Big Goal: 10 Routines for 2014

Image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

I can sum up all of my goals this year with one word: ROUTINES! Yeah, it's not very sexy :) and it's something I've definitely resisted for a long time, however, it's become pretty clear to me that if I want to make some concrete and consistent progress in a few different areas of my life, it would be a good idea to get more friendly with this concept. I have a tendency to resist anything that looks like "too much structure" but as I've made some baby steps towards establishing better routines I'm starting to realize that they can actually be pretty liberating.

I just sent out an email to my newsletter subscribers talking about the 5 systems you need to have in place to feed your family well with less money, time and stress. And I have those systems pretty firmly in place in my own life, so much so that they are second nature. In effect, these new routines are just other "systems" to make sure I get the other things done that are important to me. When I think about it that way, it seems much less constraining.

Also, I should note that most of the specific items/activities in my new routines are not brand new to me - they are just things I've done more inconsistently than I'd like, and I'd like to "pull it all together" and make them more formalized and ingrained habits.

So, here are my shiny new routines for 2014:

1. Morning routine: I have started getting up at 7 a.m. so I can be fully showered and dressed before I wake my son up for school just before 8:00. This also gives me enough time to do a morning meditation, which is the one brand new thing I'm trying to incorporate into my life this year. I may have to start getting up a bit earlier as my daily meditation time increases (right now it's 12 minutes but I'm already feeling like I want to increase the time slightly).

2.  Email routines: I am setting specific times to check my email during the day - 9 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3:45 p.m.- so I don't compulsively check it (something I can do far too often if I let myself). I'm also working on finding the system that works best for me to help keep my inbox cleared out (I've unsubscribed from a lot of lists lately and that's a good first step!).

3. Lunchtime routine: I want to consistently take an hour and a half break from 11:30 to 1 p.m. My son comes home for lunch from 11:30 to 12:00 and too often I find myself in the middle of something and not all that available to him. So during that time I can help him fix lunch, chat with him a bit about his morning, and clean up the backlog of dishes in the kitchen. From noon to one I can eat my own lunch and take a 30-40 minute walk (except on a day like today where it's -40ºF!!) 

4. Afternoon exercise routine: I've been trying to get back to doing strength training consistently twice a week, and after having poor mobility in one shoulder for a couple of years due to a frozen shoulder (and thus unable to do upper body training), it's been tough to get back in the habit. My upper body strength is nonexistent waaay below what it used to be, too, so it's hard not to feel discouraged. I know the only way to get back to where I was is steady, consistent progress. I'm scheduling 4-5 p.m. as my daily workout time during the week. Hubby and I go to a hot yoga class at 4 p.m. one afternoon a week, and two of the other days will be strength training.The remaining days I'll devote to my home yoga practice. 

5. Bedtime routine: Getting to bed at a reasonable time has always been a challenge for our household full of night owls. I really want to see us ALL better rested this year, so I'm establishing some clearer boundaries around bedtime for all four of us. Of course, just like in most families, mom has to lead by example, so I'm going to have to be REALLY firm about this with myself in order to get everyone else on board. My goal is for us all to start getting ready for bed at 10 p.m. (including getting anything ready for the next day like clothes, permission slips, etc) and all be in our beds by 10:30 p.m. That gives us all half an hour to read or have "quiet" time before lights out at 11 p.m. 

6. Writing routines: I need to get better at scheduling in specific larger chunks of time for writing as I'm only getting done about one third of the writing I'd really like to at the moment.

7. Cleaning routines: Oh, how I really want to get this one under my belt! While we are really good at cooking and washing dishes, most of the other cleaning around the house is pretty hit-or-miss. I think I may finally have come up with some ideas that will keep us more consistently on track in this department.

8. Business routines: Although I don't have an entirely clear picture of what this is going to look like, I need to have better consistency around making updates to my website and blog, a more consistent blogging schedule (that one's also related to my lack of good writing routines), and more structure around my use of social media. I also want to come up with a more formal plan for doing offline types of marketing (something I've neglected to a large extent in the past).

9. Financial routines: While I have a very reliable system in place for paying bills and tracking spending in certain categories like food and clothing, we've gotten a bit sloppier than I would like about our overall financial management. I had been using Mint.com for the past couple of years to manage our finances, and overall it wasn't a very successful experiment for us. We're going back to good old-fashioned paper, pencil and calculator this year, which has worked well for us in the past. We're also doing the 52 Week Savings Challenge to reboot our savings account.

10. Weekly planning routine: This one seems critical to holding all the other ones together! While I'm pretty good about making a to-do list each day, it has a tendency to be filled with mostly specific appointments and urgent items. I'm now setting time aside on Sunday evenings to plan out my entire week, scheduling in more of those "important but not urgent" items so I actually get them done :) Click HERE for a great little 3 minute video on why that's so important!

That's a big list, for sure, and it might look awfully overwhelming at first glance, but I'm actually feeling excited about the concept of making routines a priority for the year. I'm sure my success may be a bit spotty at times as I try to pull it all together, but some progress is better than no progress :) and I do feel like I'm already making headway just one week into the new year, so that's encouraging!

I'll be sharing in more detail about some of these routines as I go along to let you know what has worked well for me and what hasn't!

Do you have any specific routines that help your life run more smoothly?

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Simple Things I Love #2: My Cast Iron Pans

There's a lot of talk these days about using safer, more environmentally friendly pans. There have been a lot of new lines of cookware come out in the past few years that are being marketed as "green" choices. I happen to think that the best pans are the ones that have been around for over 100 years: Cast iron.

Considering I've been cooking since I was old enough to hold a wooden spoon, it took me a while to become a cast iron convert. I didn't grow up with cast iron cookware, and I didn't know anyone else who used cast iron pans, either. For a while, I was intrigued by the idea of cast iron, yet intimidated by it because everything I read gave me the impression they were hard to care for.

I actually bought my first cast iron pan over 20 years ago (the smallest one with the wooden handle in the photo). I think I paid $5 for it at IKEA (as far as I can tell, they don't sell these anymore). This was before we even got married! I do remember using it a bit, and taking it on camping trips, but for some reason it eventually got stuck in the back of the cupboard and gathered dust for a decade or so. Thankfully, I never got rid of it during either of our pre-move purges.

Fast forward to a couple summers ago when I picked up the mid-size pan (bottom right in the photo) at a yard sale for $5. It is definitely an older, well seasoned pan and I was excited to find it. I really wanted to start using cast iron pans on a regular basis, but again for some strange reason I felt a bit intimidated.

Thankfully I got over it and have now been using both of the pans pictured on a daily basis for a couple of years. We added the largest pan in the photo about 6 months ago - I bought that one new for just under $30 at a Canadian Tire 65% off sale (gotta love those!). Of the three pans, it's my least favourite. You'll notice it doesn't look as glossy as the other two, which both have the wonderful dark patina of a well-seasoned pan. The newer one doesn't have as smooth of a surface and I'm finding it hard to get it well seasoned. Still, I'll take it over any of the ceramic-coated pans I've owned, hands-down.

So, why do I love these pans so much?

They are very safe to cook with: No nasty coatings, and you can even increase the iron content of your foods by cooking in cast iron!

They will take whatever you can dish out: You can use metal utensils when cooking, and scrape away at them hard if you get something stuck on them.

They will last several generations: Lodge, one of the best-known makers of cast iron cookware, has been making cast iron pans since 1896 and apparently some of the original pieces are still in use today. Considering as how my other fry pans typically lasted 2-3 years at the most with daily use, that is simply amazing!

They produce great results: The combination of my gas stove and cast iron pans means I can get some seriously crispy crunchy coatings when I'm pan frying. The nice thick bottoms mean foods don't get easily burnt or scorched (which can definitely happen when using flimsy cookware over a gas flame!)

They are easy to clean and care for: This point is ironic as it's what held me back from discovering the wonders of cast iron for so long. Really, it is no big deal at all to look after these pans. Ideally, you shouldn't use soapy water on them, as that will wear down the seasoning, but I do use a bit now and then when a pan is really nasty. Some people recommend re-seasoning them with oil after every use, but I don't find that to be necessary at all - probably because most of our meals start with a couple tablespoons of either butter or olive oil in the pan :) Once you've been using your pans for a while, you'll know when they need a bit of a reboot - I find mine only need it once a month at the most. Yes, my large pan above *does* need some reseasoning action! I have found coconut oil works really well for seasoning my pans, other people have different opinions about what works best! Some basic instructions on how to care for and season your cast iron pan can be found here. Even if your pan becomes a rusted-out mess (or you find one at a yard sale in that condition), it can still be saved! See this tutorial on how to clean up a rusty pan.

Despite how much I love my cast iron pans, I'm willing to admit they have two drawbacks:

1. They are HEAVY! It's difficult to lift my largest pan with one hand if I'm trying to drain fat out of it, or tip out the last portion of a skillet meal.

2. The handles get HOT - so you need to use an oven mitt while cooking (the wooden handle on my small pan eliminates this problem).

I think these two minor drawbacks are far outweighed by all their benefits. We now cook exclusively with these 3 pans and I've said goodbye to those ceramic pans. I like thinking about the possibility of my kids or grandkids someday cooking food for their families in these exact pans (yeah, I'm a romantic, what can I say?)

Are you a cast iron aficionado? Or curious about giving them a try now?

(And no, this post is not sponsored in any way by Lodge or anyone else - I just love my cast iron!)

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Simple Things I Love #1: My Super Saucepan

I'm definitely one of those people who appreciates the simpler things in life - I prefer bikes to cars and books to big screen TVs. As technology gets more and more complex, I find myself noticing how many of my most treasured tools are ones that have been around for a lot longer than Ipods!

As my longtime readers may have already figured out, I'm a kitchen minimalist. Even though I cook three meals a day from scratch, I have far fewer tools and gadgets than most people I know. One of my hardest-working kitchen tools is my trusty heavy-duty large saucepan. This particular pot was a wedding gift and has been pressed into near-daily service over the past sixteen-and-a-half years (often being called upon more than once per day).

Its functions in my kitchen include:

-soup pot
-milk heater (for yogurt making)
-rice cooker (also used for cooking other grains and pilafs, too)
-potato boiler
-popcorn maker (stovetop popcorn is the best ever!)


The poor thing hardly gets any rest - I'm sure it's glad when we take off for a camping trip and give it a few days off :)

When I stop to think of how much use I've gotten out of this simple but sturdy pot over the years, I'm filled with appreciation at how many tasks it performs for me, week in and week out. Plus it takes up a whole lot less space than a rice steamer and popcorn maker, a bonus in my space-challenged kitchen!

What simple things do YOU love?

Keeping Your Frugal Flow Even When Life Gets Frantic

Photo by Evgeni Dinev/Freedigitalphotos.net

It's been quite a crazy week chez McLaughlin: 

1. On the weekend my younger son's bed decided to collapse (one of the steel supports for the wooden slats under the mattress collapsed, thankfully NOT while he was on it!)

2. On Tuesday, my husband went out for "a quick bike ride" before dinner - and was still not home an hour after he should have been! He had gotten a flat he wasn't able to fix about 15 km from home and I ended up needing to go rescue him, driving through a fairly high-traffic area during rush hour (which, since I rarely drive, was extremely stressful for me!)

3. On Wednesday, I came home from the library in the middle of the afternoon to find my 86-year-old grandmother in my living room (the kids had let her in the house). Since she doesn't drive and has never come to visit me all on her own before, this was a bit of a shock (she took a bus and a taxi to get here from my hometown about half an hour away from the city). After she'd gone to all that trouble to get here, I couldn't very well send her home on the next bus out of town! So I invited her for dinner and arranged for my hubby to drive her home later that evening. We had a very nice visit, but it sure threw my plans for the day right out the window.

4. On Thursday, my husband had to drive to London (Ontario, not England!) to spend a full day at the dental college there where they are working on making him a bridge. This is going to save us a lot of money, but the appointments tend to be made on fairly short notice (last time he had less than 12 hours notice; this time it was a few days). This disrupted the day's plans as, since we only have one vehicle, I now had to bike my kids the 5-6 km to the karate studio where our homeschooling group meets every Thursday for drama and crafts. Thankfully, the weather was lovely, but I did have to reschedule an appointment so I could have enough time to get home after dropping them off.

Needless to say, it's felt like somewhat of a chaotic week! And despite our normal schedule being disrupted at just about every turn, our frugal habits remained well in place:


-we didn't run out and buy my son a new (or even secondhand) bed when it broke. He slept on an air mattress for a few days until my husband had time to properly fix the one we had - it's now sturdier than ever!

-even though it was close to 7 p.m. by the time I got my husband and his disabled bike back home on Tuesday night (and we were both pretty worn out at that point) we didn't resort to fast food for dinner - instead I quickly whipped up my Cheesy Mac & Beef Skillet, which takes very little time and even less effort (and uses staple ingredients we always have on hand)

-I was able to invite my grandmother to stay for dinner on the spur of the moment, and adjust our meal plans to accommodate her tastes while still making good use of the foods that most urgently needed eating up

-because my kids are used to walking and biking places rather than being driven everywhere, they were easily able to ride 5-6 km with me to get to their Thursday activities. Yes, we could have taken the bus, but the service to that part of town isn't very good, and it would have taken several times longer for me to drop them off there and get myself back (plus we saved several dollars in bus fare and got some exercise to boot).

Sometimes it DOES take a little more effort to make frugal choices when life takes its unexpected twists and turns. But the more firmly ingrained your frugal habits are, the easier it is to stick with them even when the going gets a little bit rough. It's nice to know that even though life threw us a few curve balls this week, we still came up swinging for Team Frugalista full force!

Hopefully life will settle down a bit now, as I have a lot of prep work to do for this weekend's Thanksgiving dinner.

Simple Summer Pleasures

 There are so many reasons to love summer! It's definitely the season that best suits my temperament - relaxed and welcoming. with a focus on fun and family.

Another thing I love about summer is all the little daily pleasures that make it seem particularly sweet. The saying "the best things in life are free" feels even more true at this time of year.

Here are some of my favourite "simple summer pleasures":

1. My hollyhocks (pictured above).
I am unreasonably smitten by the old fashioned charm of these beauties. They grow along my front walkway and I love to sit on my porch and gaze out on them. I bought two hollyhock plants for $1.00 each at a neighbourhood plant sale a few years ago, and they have now filled almost the entire garden bed! Quite possibly the most satisfying $2.00 I've ever spent.

2. Mint tea from my garden
I've previously mentioned that I'm fond of making fresh mint tea with the abundance of mint in my garden. I love to end a summer day by sipping a mugful in the evening after the heat of the day has dissipated. This simple pleasure costs me nothing but the price of boiling some water!

3. My front porch
When we bought our current home, one of the things I was most excited about was the covered front porch that runs across the whole front of the house. It's a wonderful place to hang out in the heat of a lazy summer afternoon. I love to sit there (in the Adirondack chair my hubby built) chatting with neighbours and watching the world go by.

4. Walking barefoot
For me, I don't think there's anything more challenging about a long Canadian winter than the necessity of wearing socks (often more than one pair!) I'm a barefoot kinda gal, and as soon as those warm spring breezes arrive, off come the socks. My feet are very, very, happy right now! Life is just better when I can feel the grass between my toes, know what I mean?

5. The smell of fresh cut grass
Aaah, the smell of a freshly cut lawn! I wish I could bottle that, but of course it would never be able to compare to the real thing. Fortunately, since we live in the city, there's almost always a freshly cut yard full of grass near at hand.


6. Riding my bike
My bike and I have been together for a looong time. We've really gone places together (most notably from Kingston, ON to Halifax, NS one wild and crazy July in 1996). Taking a spin along the Waterfront Trail early in the morning or just before dusk is one of the things that never fails to recharge my batteries!

7. Picnics
Food just tastes better when you eat it outdoors. Picnic food is just so much FUN! And you can have a picnic just about anywhere on a warm summer's day. Come to think of it, I think I need to go on a picnic really soon. Life is too short not to have a picnic as often as possible!


8. Harvesting veggies from my garden
The wait for the first perfectly ripened backyard tomato seems to be universally agonizing to gardeners everywhere. Plucking that first sun-ripened fruit is one of the sacred rituals of summer! Whether I'm harvesting greens for a salad, nibbling fresh-picked raspberries or up to my eyeballs in fresh green beans, I always find growing my own food to be a wondrous (and slightly miraculous) process.


9. Watching my kids have water wars
Is there anything kids can do that's more fun than soaking each other with water? Water guns, water balloons and garden hoses - anything'll do as long as it gets your opponent good! Full-scale, street-long battles have been known to occur around here, and they're alway a delight to witness (once in a while, I might even get wet, too!)


10. Hanging out in the neighbourhood on a long summer evening.
Summer evenings sometimes feel like they might go on just about forever (and wouldn't it be great if they did?) All that extra daylight after dinner leaves plenty of time for taking the dog for a stroll, puttering in the garden, and chatting up the neighbours.

Oh summer, I do love you so! What are some of your simple summer pleasures?

A Day in the Life of Our Frugal Family

Image by Mantas Ruzveitas/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Today it struck me just how much our frugal ways permeate every aspect of our daily lives. I thought I'd share a quick snapshot of what a typical day looks like around here. No two days are quite the same, but today is as good a day as any other of illustrating our frugal lifestyle.

I started the day by checking on our batch of yogurt that had incubated overnight. It was successfully brewed up, so I poured it into individual serving containers and stuck it in the fridge. I wasn't sure if the yogurt would work out or not, as I'd invented a new incubation method on the fly. Our yogurt maker died and I didn't realize it until I had a batch in progress (I'll share more about my method in another post soon). Once I had the yogurt taken care of, I pulled the bowl of Refrigerator Bread Dough that I'd made last night out of the fridge, and got two loaves of bread rising (the rest of the dough went back in the fridge to be used later this week). I then started a load of laundry (in my freecycled-to-me machine, using homemade laundry detergent) and hopped on my (15 years old and still going strong) bike for a 4o minute spin along the Waterfront Trail.

Once I got back home, I had a Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin for breakfast, along with a cup of coffee made in our yard sale purchased $1.00 coffee perker. I got the bread in the oven, dealt with some household administrative tasks, had a quick shower, and got dressed in my thrift store and yard saled (and still looking nearly new) clothes. While I was doing all that, my hubby rode his (also many years old) bike over to the CAA office (a couple of kilometres away) to get his driver's license and license plate renewed.

Once hubby returned home, we planned out the rest of our day while we sorted out what was going to be on the lunch menu. He works a lot of evenings and weekends (he's a Realtor), so often he will take most of a day off one day during the week. This day usually ends up being an errand-running and household chore day, and that's how it turned out today. Our kids are homeschooled, so on these days they either help us out with whatever we're doing, or work on a project on their own.

Lunch was the last of our Sunday dinner roast chicken (bought on a buy-one-get-one-free sale), diced up and turned into a sandwich filling with red peppers, green onions and mayo, all on fresh-from-the-oven bread. I topped my sandwich off with avocado slices as there was half an avocado in the fridge that needed to be used up. All of the produce we used was purchased on sale as well, most of it for half price or less.

After lunch hubby and I ran out to do a couple of errands in the van (our only family vehicle) that were too far away to get to by bike, but located close to one another. I stocked up on sale-priced decent quality underwear for myself, and we picked up some paperwork my husband needed for work.

The errands took about an hour. Once we got back home, my husband taught my 10 year old son how to cut the grass (which desperately needed cutting!) My son is planning to do some lawn cutting this summer to earn extra money, so his dad is teaching him how to do a really good job so he'll have satisfied customers. While they were doing that, I hung the load of laundry out on the line, did a bit of yard cleanup and checked on my arugula seedlings to see how they were doing. My older son went down the street to pick up a perfectly good toboggan that had been left on the curb by one of our neighbours. A couple of our toboggans bit the dust this winter after years of use so a "new" one will come in handy for next winter. We've taught our kids to always check with homeowners first before taking stuff from the curb to make sure it's okay. It's a very common practice for people in our neighbourhood to put anything they no longer want on the curb, and no one looks askance at whoever decides to pick it up and drag it home!

The boys went back in the house to "do their own thing" for a while, and my husband then rode his bike over to the office to do a couple of hours of work there. I planted some spinach seeds in our raised vegetable bed and finished cleaning up the yard.

Now I'm sitting here taking a coffee break and writing a blog post. Soon I'll start our dinner of Pasta with Creamy Peanut Sauce, Broccoli and Carrots, with all of the ingredients having been purchased on sale (the recipe will be coming to the blog soon!)

After dinner we'll take the dog for a stroll. The kids will play outside with their neighbourhood friends. We'll probably read a bit of our library copy of Stormbreaker (from the Alex Rider series) together, then watch a Battlestar Galactica DVD (also from the library). If we feel like a snack, we'll make some air-popped popcorn and hot chocolate made from homemade mix.

We'll head off to bed well fed and fulfilled from another day of living life on our own terms, eager to see what the day brings tomorrow!

Bread Baking & Yard Raking

The weather this week has been glorious here in Southern Ontario. We've gotten an early reprieve from winter with a very welcome heat wave. I've been spending as much time as possible outside, since I know it won't last. It's entirely possible that we'll still see some snow again next week!

Yesterday I took advantage of the lovely weather to do the Big Bad Spring Cleanup. The one where I find out exactly how much dog poop was hiding under all that snow (the answer is always the same: way more than I want to think about!) I found a total of TEN tennis balls as I was making my way around the yard, picking up the poop and the garbage and all the little toys that seem to be there every spring, no matter how hard I try to get the yard cleaned up in the fall!

I started taking the leave mulch off the garden beds, too - the strawberry plants are already growing! I don't see any signs of rhubarb poking its way up yet. I'm hoping the rhubarb will really kick in this year (second full growing season since planting) and that I'll have enough to freeze some for the colder months.

Bread baking was also on yesterday's schedule; I used my tried and true Whole Wheat Refrigerator Dough and did one loaf plain and one loaf fancy. There's about 1/2 of the second loaf left; bread doesn't have much chance to go stale around here!

Our house-wide decluttering project slowed down for a while but we're still working away at it. I spent some time helping my dh wrestle the junk in the basement - there's a lot more to go but it already looks a lot less scary than when we started.

Next up: continue the decluttering, deal with my mending pile, and start getting ready for Easter!