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Jan 26, 2009    |       16 comments

One of My New Favorite Sites

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We have had to make some changes with our diets. As a result, I am making a lot more things from scratch so we can control the nutritional content. It’s been a challenge, but I am really enjoying it. There’s one site that has been very valuable: All Recipes.

Did you know that you can make graham crackers from scratch? The site has the basic recipe, and you can find some real treasures while reading the comments! There are many users who have tweaked the recipes to fit their health needs.

I’m finding that I am feeling more confident with trying to add my own creativity to the mix. If I don’t have a particular ingredient, maybe I can try something else. I can also see if I can do anything with food that is near its shelf life. I bought a canister of prunes but I can’t eat them fast enough. No one else in the house likes them, so I may try whipping up this prune cake that has rave reviews. Of course, I won’t mention there are prunes in it 😉

Today I made some pudding from scratch and it was yummy and easy to make. It will be a great snack to put into little containers for a road trip or a summer picnic.

Jan 23, 2009    |       16 comments

Monetary Ouchie From Our Arctic Blast

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Earlier in the month, we had some mighty cold weather in the Midwest. With temps hovering around zero degrees, the windy weather made it seem like more than 20 degrees below zero. I knew it would hit us hard with our gas bill. Boy, it sure did.

I opened up the envelope and closed my eyes as I pulled the bill out. Wait, I didn’t just close them…they were clenched shut. I was mentally preparing myself. I opened my eyes and witnessed the highest gas bill we have ever had – just shy of $200. Gulp.

Our usage was up and so was the price of the gas. I knew the day would come where our bill would be that high (bound to happen with the way prices are going lately). But I didn’t think it would be so soon. Times like these really light that fire to get that energy efficient home of our dreams. We’ll also inch down the heat some more than it already has been lowered.

Hopefully, upcoming reductions in our electric usage will help counter the increase in our gas bills. There will be more on that later 🙂

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