       
Category: LifestylePages: << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 ... 15 >> 02/10/09
Frugal Craft Ideas for Children! On a weekend or just a rainy afternoon, kids get bored easily. We often reach for the car keys and our wallet to find ways to satisfy them. Instead of doing that, reach for a few supplies and show them how to make some crafts that won’t cause you to burn unnecessary gas or spend money. Entertaining a kid is easier than you may think. If you know the types of things they like, you are one step ahead of the game. Younger kids enjoy ripping things to pieces. Their little hands find joy in destruction. When the wrecking ball is over, they are still delighted laughing about what they have accomplished. For them, something durable is in order. One frugal craft that can stand up to the beating (at least for a little while) is to create a town or village for their dolls, action figures, or stuffed animals. 02/02/09
What Would You Do If You Ran the World?Link: http://www.whatwouldyoudoifyourantheworld.com/
What Would You Do If YOU Ran the World? is the culmination of brave, beautiful, brilliant, creative, and totally doable ideas that women have shared, complemented by inspiring quotes from famous women and action lists like Ten Things You Can Start Doing Now. Shelly's warm and encouraging voice motivates readers to join other amazing women who are kicking serious butt for the good of all, like a teenage girl and CNN hero, kids in Zimbabwe saving their part of the planet, and a busy mom who is not too busy to work every day to help impoverished families live better lives. From learning to listen to your own guiding voice to galvanizing the women in your life, from getting involved in your own community to reaching clear across the world, What Would You Do If YOU Ran the World? is filled with ways we can all live a satisfying life of inspiration in action. As Anne Frank once said, “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” Be sure to stop by your local bookstore to pick up a copy.
Submitted by: Linda Allen 01/27/09
Save Money and Time with Two Night Dinners!With the cost of everything skyrocketing, it’s hard to keep food on the table without spending a lot of money at the grocery store. Dinner is an especially hard meal to finance because there are so many choices and our families are picky. Save money by turning one dinner into a second meal a couple of days later.
Some people don’t like leftovers. No matter how you good the food was the first time, they won’t eat it again to save their lives. This can eat into a family food budget when a portion of that food ends up in the trashcan. You have two choices: fix less or make that meal go farther. The former can be tricky or near impossible with a family of hungry picky eaters, large or small. Let’s go for option two and see if we can surprise those finicky folks. If your family won’t eat leftovers, maybe they will go for another fabulous creation from your kitchen. We are calling these “two night dinners.” The two nights in question don’t have to be consecutive. In fact, it is probably better that they are not so you can surprise your family. We start with the basic meat. Purchasing a whole pork shoulder, chicken, or piece of beef is economical. Have the butcher cut it up for you for free in the grocery store or meat market. You’ll have several cuts to choose from for dinner. Let’s try a chicken dish. Everyone loves the yard bird don’t they? For the first night, the family enjoys an herb rubbed roasted chicken with potatoes and carrots. No one will eat the entire chicken. What do you do with the rest? Pick as much meat off of the chicken as you can and store it cooled in a Ziploc bag or reusable container. As for the carcass and essence, boil it down to create chicken stock. When cooled, pour it into Mason jars or plastic containers. The leftover chicken can be used in a variety of ways. Mix it with rice to create a casserole dish. Stir fry it with frozen vegetables and pasta. Make chicken salad for a light dinner on a busy night. Other meats are just as versatile as chicken. Leftover beef roast can be used for stews and soups. Combine with egg noodles and sauce to create beef stroganoff. Slice thin and stir fry with vegetables for beef fajitas. You get the basic idea. You have several dinner ideas just waiting to be born right in your refrigerator. We suggest two night dinners because leftovers don’t keep for long. After the fourth day in the fridge, it’s best to toss it out. With the ideas you are sure to come up with, there shouldn’t be anything left by day four. Linda Allen 01/15/09
Gardening for Food and Fun A garden was once used to grow beautiful flowers and fruits and vegetables. Today land is becoming increasingly scarce and so is time. Learn to garden again to grow your own food, save money and spend a bit of quality time with the family. A garden can be used in many ways. Some people create flower gardens to enhance the look of their homes. Short, tall, fuzzy, speckled, and brightly colored plants exist to be adored. A flower garden is also fragrant for the nose and welcoming to wildlife, such as hummingbirds, butterflies, and more. Gardening can be twofold. First, create a garden for vegetables. It doesn’t have to be several acres long. You can clear away a small plot big enough to grow food for you and your entire family. There is nothing like a cabbage or head of lettuce that was plucked fresh from your own backyard garden. Home grown vegetables have not been processed which means all of their nutrients are still intact. You can absolutely taste the difference between homegrown and store bought veggies when you bite into them. Growing your own garden is not only healthier for your body, but sure helps the wallet too. For every tomato, carrot, squash, or bean that you grow, that is one less thing to add to the grocery list. Fruits are another gardening option. Fruit can be expensive in the grocery store. Grow your own fruits and taste the sweetness as it was intended to be enjoyed, without all the freezing or chemicals that were used to make it shelf-stable longer. When you get a craving for something sweet, pop in the garden and pick a juicy watermelon or cantaloupe for a healthy alternative to cookies, cake or candy. Children can help in the garden. Armed with a pair of gloves and some tools, you can show them how to plant seeds, clear weeds, water, and tell if the fruits and vegetables are ripe. An apple tastes so much sweeter when it is plucked from your own tree. Toddlers love pulling food from the garden so grab a bucket and head out once every day or two to pick from the garden with your little ones. If you don’t have a lot of land or no place to stake out a garden, use other alternatives. Large planters can accommodate a fair variety of fruits and vegetables. Tomatoes can even be grown upside down in a container. Many dwarf fruit trees can be placed in a large pot to grow without getting root bound. Planting isn’t strictly limited to round pots either. Use whatever you have lying around. Kids will love to fill old tires, broken pots, old cups, and other items to create fruit and vegetable planters. This is referred to as container gardening. People do it a lot in the city where it is all concrete jungle. You can even grow herbs in small pots and sit them on the window sill. When it is time to harvest, let the kids go around and pluck the ripe ones. Be sure to use organic pesticide treatments to ensure that your food won’t poison you when you are ready to eat it. A family can save a lot of money by growing their own garden. Seeds are cheaper than bulbs and still grow tasty vegetables and beautiful flowers. Fruits and vegetables can be canned for the winter months to be eaten later. Teaching your child to garden is a useful tool that can be used all their life. By: Linda Allen 01/09/09
Frugal Family FunWe all need to take a break now and again. Spending time with the family is relaxing and can be a bit adventurous at times. If you are looking for ways to spend quality time without breaking the bank keep reading for some frugal family fun.  1. Camping If you’ve never experienced the great outdoors, it is a great way to get away and have a few laughs. Camping teaches survival skills and lets kids and adults experience what it is like to live with nature instead of against it. If one member of the family has great camping experience, he or she can guide the rest of the group. Catch your supper and cook it over an open flame. Sing songs, have marshmallow treats, tell stories, and hike to new places. Camp in areas far away from Yogi Bear and Wile E. Coyote but which still maintain the element of adventure the vast wilderness has to offer. 2. Weekend trips For a large family weekend trips are more economical sometimes than taking a week’s vacation. Everyone can pile in the car and head to the mountains or the coast for a weekend of fun. For one night, everyone can sleep in one or two hotel rooms. Consider it to be “roughing it.” Visit a national park, zoo, museum, national monument, or other point of interest. Pack drinks, snacks, and lunches to avoid incurring too many food costs. Using a digital camera for pictures saves on the expense of film. You can even save money with photo printing websites that will print your pictures online and your family can view and order the ones they want. 3. Family vacation These are always fun. As a kid, there is nothing better than getting away to someplace new and having a ball. If this is your intent, start saving early. Investigate methods of travel to find the most economical for your budget and family size. Follow travel deals instead of just the peak and off-peak seasons. Even in peak times, families can find good travel deals so that everyone can have a good time. If you are traveling to an area where family lives ask if you can bunk with them for a few days. It cuts down on costs and you get to visit. 4. Have family picnics. Parks have come a long way in the last few years. They have cookout shelters and trails for running, cycling, or hiking, water activities, and playgrounds. One Saturday a month, gather the entire family (including extended family in the same city) and have a picnic cookout in the park. Reserve a shelter in advance and ask each person to contribute to the meal. Bring along board games, balls, blankets, bikes, and your best pair of sneakers. Get an early start and spend the day doing whatever you want to have fun and relax. Having fun doesn’t have to come with a high price tag. There are ways to engage the interest of the entire family without worrying about money. By: Linda Allen |
02:59:05 pm, by Linda 
That’s a question Shelly Rachanow thought a lot about ever since she posed it in her first book, If Women Ran the World, Sh*t Would Get Done. Since that book’s release, so many women have shared with Shelly ideas for making the world a better place, ideas of things we can do for ourselves, our loved ones, our community, and the world. Time after time Shelly thought, “If these women ran the world, just imagine what would get done!”
We, at GirlfriendsCafe.com, are proud to count the author, Shelly Rachanow, among our members and high recommend that this is a book that you should not miss!
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