ABC'S OF A PICKY EATER

The food swings of toddlers are some of the most frustrating cycles of parenting. If you’ve ever had a picky eater, this rings true for you.

One of Mother’s Little Helpers was just one, picky, little foodie. Finding food that he would eat was more than a challenge.

The first clue that I was going to be in trouble was when he started on solid food. Most babies start with rice cereal. I proudly had my box of Gerber’s Rice Cereal, mixed up his first batch and he unceremoniously spit it out at me.

His pediatrician recommended waiting two months and trying again.

At eight months of age, I tried again. Epic fail. At his nine month check-up, she recommended oatmeal cereal. Finally, success!

Along came the terrible-twos. Desperate to find something he would eat, Old Mother Frugal would give him random tastes of things that I was eating at any given meal time.

One day, he discovered vanilla yogurt was pretty tasty. Score one for mom!

If it were not for chick peas, I don’t know he’d have ever eaten a protein. It’s not clear to me just how many two year olds eat chick peas, aka garbanzo beans, but this little boy was hooked on them.

Salvation came with the discovery of Campbell’s “Meatball Alphabet Soup”. The company no longer makes this soup, but it served its purpose at the time. Mother’s Little Helper had worked up a repertoire of food items for consumption which was just fine with me…yogurt, chick peas and meatball alphabet soup.

The pediatrician predicted one day he would eat me out of house and home. In the meantime, a well stocked pantry of chick peas, his favorite canned soup and yogurt was all I needed to keep that little boy happily fed.

SOUND THE BUGLE:  Today’s tip: Garbanzo beans are great food extenders. Add to soups and salads as an economical protein or find your favorite hummus recipe and use them as a dip/spread with vegetables or on a sandwich. One cup of dry beans will yield 3 cups of cooked beans.

 

YOU SAY IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY!

In the hours leading up to my birthday this year, there is joy in my email inbox.

Over the course of several years, I have signed up for email “alerts” to my favorite eating establishments and in return, they help me celebrate my birthday with a complimentary meal.

I have enough meal coupons that I could dine out all day!

There is a complimentary breakfast from International House of Pancakes with a pancake breakfast or Einstein Brothers with bagel and a beverage.

Lunch is being picked up by J.R. Log House, a favorite restaurant for smoked BBQ meats and authentic Southern cuisine.

If I would like a free waffle cone for dessert or mid-day snack, I can select from either Dairy Queen or Brewster’s.

Dinner is courtesy of Ryan’s Buffet.

Well, that’s a lot of dining out for one day so I may have to spread the birthday celebrating over the course of several days. Each coupon has a generous expiration date.

Frugal celebrating is on the horizon and it was as simple as joining the e-club at my favorite eating establishments!

 

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s tip: The next time you are dining out, consider enrolling in the e-club programs of your favorite restaurants. When your birthday comes around, enjoy some frugal celebrating too!

 

 

WHAT IS IN YOUR WALLET?

There is a credit card company with a celebrity spokesperson inquiring, “What is in your wallet”?

For the past three months, it has been cash.

What I’ve discovered over the course of these months is that I am doing a much better job at budgeting using old fashioned, paper money.

In September and now in October, I have been able to slice $10 off my budget by using cash.

I did fall into a fantastic sale on 10 lbs of chicken quarters which fed us for an entire week, and then some! There are gallons of stock ready for a variety of homemade soups. With summer vegetables in the freezer and fall vegetables such as butternut squash, it will be a hard decision on what types of soups to make for dinner.

Another coupe was my success in stockpiling store and manufacturer coupons at my local grocery store and Dollar Tree, catching some needed pantry items while on sale. Straight up, my bill would have been $15.07 without coupons and paying full price.

My final price was $4.50.

What is in my wallet…is cash savings!

SOUND THE BULGE! Today’s tip: I often hear “my family won’t eat any part of the chicken but the breasts”. Families are spending $1.99 - $3.99/lb on chicken breasts. The chicken quarters are more economical part of the chicken. Pre-cook chicken quarters and remove the meat from the bones. Use the cooked dark meat in your “Master of Disguise” meals. I can’t think of any other protein that I can buy for .49 - .69/lb during these times of high meat prices. Then re-use the bones for stock. Now that's a twist on "buy one, get one free".

 

                                                    MY PRICE $4.50

                                                                   

LOAFING AROUND

If given the opportunity to do nothing, I wouldn’t know what to do. I suppose that’s a casualty of being “Type A” personality.

Looking back at my youth, a collection of blankets were crocheted while watching television. Before there was a term called “multi-tasking”, juggling more than one task at the same time was my forte.

In my first career as a nurse, these skills were put to the test. One nurse, more than a dozen patients, only 8 hours to get 10 hours of work done.

Motherhood came along. Once you go beyond two Mother’s Little Helpers, you are just outnumbered. There are not enough arms to accommodate three little helpers.

With an encore career in higher education, I discovered how to merge my nursing career [where the job can’t get done in 8 hours] and motherhood [not having enough arms to accommodate what needs to be done] into one job.

No, there isn’t much loafing around in my life but I wouldn’t have had it any other way!

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s tip: After defrosting ground chuck for slider sandwiches for lunch one day, I set aside enough ground chuck to form a meatloaf for dinner the following week. I have two forms of presenting meatloaf. One is the traditional loaf form and the other is formed in a muffin tin. Using a muffin pan will reduce your cooking time from one hour to 20 minutes saving you time to loaf around!

                                          INDIVIDUAL MINI MEAT LOAF

 

 

BACON WRAPPED MEATLOAF

 

WHEN A PENNY SAVED BESTS TWO NICKELS

Very early on in my childhood, frequently overheard were the expressions, “a penny saved is a penny earned” and “didn’t have two nickels to rub together”.

The adage, “a penny saved is a penny earned” implied it was better to save your money than to spend it right away. Not having two nickels to rub together implied someone had no money.

If you didn’t save your money, you wouldn’t have two nickels and this began my first lesson about money and indirectly, about frugality.

Reinforcing that message was watching my dad count his coins from his metal mailbox bank. I loved that bank. It was a miniature replica of a stand-alone mailbox. The kind one would see on the street corners, back in the day. For him, it was a very appropriate vehicle to use to collect his coins. He spent his entire career as a letter carrier.

The other place dad found money was in the Sunday newspaper. Yes, dad has been couponing for decades. He will coupon for himself, for Old Mother Bugle and for Mother’s Little Helpers.

Te acorn didn’t fall from the old oak tree. Just yet another one of those frequently overheard sayings when growing up!

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s tip: Some banking establishments have promoted “Save the Change” accounts but without careful monitoring, this costs money instead of saving money. Find a coffee mug or a mason jar or piggy bank to deposit your change every day. Count your coins when the container is full for some exciting, unexpected savings!

                                                     TOTAL: $16.50

 

STEWING ABOUT SOMETHING

When Mother’s Little Helpers were younger, they could always tell when Old Mother Bugle was upset about something. Suddenly, it was time for housecleaning! There was nothing like vacuuming and cleaning counter tops to release that inner angst.

As they grew older, going for a long brisk walk was a good way to release the inner turmoil and those happy endorphin hormones.

Then as I grew older, a third technique came along. I would have a huge collection had I not destroyed them. Letters to me.

Many a sleepless night were spent at 2AM or 3AM writing a letter or a note that contained my thoughts whether it was resolving a problem or scribing thoughts to someone who would never read them. It felt good to release the turmoil within.

Simmering emotions is like meat in a crock pot. In the end, all you have done is stew.

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s tip: A technique to save money on meat is to buy whole food. When purchasing a whole boneless pork loin, ask the butcher to cut it into your specifications. One way to cook any unattractive end pieces is to make cubes for stew. Add vegetables and pork cubes to a crock pot and simmer on low for 6 to 8 hours. It’s best served the next day when the flavors have a chance to blend with each other. It makes for an economical meal using those end pieces and leftovers, if you have any, makes a very tasty soup!

 

 

RIP VAN BUGLE

I just can’t recall the last time it happened.

First, I slept through the night. Honestly, sleep for me is a series of long naps but not this night.

At the end of the series of these naps, I ready myself for work and seemingly perform well enough for eight or more hours. Returning home, I repeat the series of long naps. Night after night. Lather, rinse, repeat.

It’s a skill that has come 30 years too late. As a young mother raising three Mother’s Little Helpers, sleep deprivation was a way of life. By 2PM, I found myself asleep at the wheel. I could not survive the day without a 20 minute power-nap in the carpool lane.

Some mothers would arrive early to get a “good spot” in the car pool line. My motivation was solely to build in nap time.

A few nights back, sleep was long and it was constant. There were no interruptions with the exception of one unusual dream sequence that woke me up. When I turned to the clock, the realization hit like a ton of sheep.

This was a nightmare. I overslept on a day when it was critical to be to work on time.

Sixty minutes was a lot of time to shave off the morning routine. Instead of being out the door, I was just getting out of bed. I had but a minute to devote to “what to wear” and “what to pack” in my lunch box. Not nearly enough time but somehow got it done.

It must be true when they say "you snooze, you ......." as 35 minutes of the day were lost to oversleeping. The routine of long naps resumed promptly that night putting an end to my Rip Van Bugle nights.

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s tip: Don’t let a crisis like this cost you money. With this experience, I could have used it as an excuse to purchase breakfast at the drive-thru and lunch at the nearby restaurant and watch $10 exit my wallet. Instead, rely on “grab-n-go” foods or a pre-made sandwich from the freezer to toss into your lunch box before heading out the door!

                                   "Grab and Go" Breakfast and Lunch