Sacrificial Hospitality: Week 1 RESULTS

I rose bright and early, before the sun, on Tuesday morning and headed to my kitchen. I donned a pretty apron and set out ingredients to begin a marathon baking and cooking session. First on my list? Apple cinnamon muffins for Farmer Joe.

I mixed up my batter and, while the oven finished preheating, I started a pot of vanilla coffee- regular, not decaf, because unlike me Farmer Joe is not expecting. :) My kitchen started to smell divine and, as my spirits lifted, my voice rose in song. My 4-year old was my ever-willing assistant and the once frigid room quickly warmed up with the muffins in the oven.

Within a half-hour, the coffee was poured in a thermos, the muffins were fresh from the oven, and I was ready to head out to see Farmer Joe.



As luck would have it, those first bands of light were just appearing over the horizon and I knew he'd be heading for his tractor any minute.

I was there when he got there.

I actually think he was afraid something was wrong at first... which to me meant I don't do this kind of thing enough. When I handed him the coffee and warm muffins, his cheeks turned pink and a shy smile crossed his big face. Since it was still only in the teens, I knew some warmth would be welcome. He thanked me- several times- and promised to return the basket and thermos (as if I had worries or doubts! ;) ). I headed back to our house to return to my baking marathon...

The cost of all this? Well under a dollar of cash and a half hour or so of my time.

The benefit? A much brighter morning for me and, hopefully, for Farmer Joe. Also, I hope my actions may serve as an example to my children of the joy of hospitality and having a giving, thoughtful spirit.

Did any of you surprise a neighbor? Did you reach out in a way you might not ordinarily? I'd love to hear about it. Please share in the comments or, if you've blogged about it, leave a link so I can stop by and read about it.

For more information about my Lenten journey, click here.

To find out what I'll be taking on as a challenge this upcoming week, be sure to stop by later today.

Zero Diaper Brand Loyalty

When my first baby was born and we were still enjoying the lovely double income that rolled in through my eight weeks of paid maternity leave, there was not a single diaper but Pampers that touched our little boy's skin. I tried a Huggies sample once when he was a newborn and it leaked so, I figured, those wouldn't suffice at all. And, in fact, even after those eight weeks were up, we continued to buy Pampers diapers because, well, they worked! But I'm almost ashamed to admit that we continued to shell out for those pricier diapers for almost a full year...

It was actually necessity that caused me to try something different. Living away from home at the Ronald McDonald House, still unable to drive after surgery, and out of diapers during a nasty bout of Rotovirus, I turned to the helpful volunteer staff at the House. They kindly gave me an entire box of diapers for my son. In his size. They were Kroger Comforts.

Hmm. I certainly wasn't going to complain! So I slapped that diaper on my baby's bottom and, you know what? It worked just fine. Even with a tummy bug. As time went on, we tried more and more brands and discovered that there were many, many that worked just dandy.

Lesson learned. We started switching up diaper brands much earlier on with our preemie daughter. Just as soon as she got out of the newborn size, in fact! I plan to do the same with this next baby.

Here's what I know now:

• Newborns are notorious for having leaky diapers. High-priced premiums may serve you better through those early days, especially at night.
• It is not uncommon for younger infants to be very sensitive to diapers and break out into rashes if you change. These same babies often do just fine with other brands once they're a little older, say six months or beyond.
• All store brands are not created equal- you owe it to your pocketbook to try more than one variety. Consider networking with friends who have babies about the same size as yours and trading a diaper or two to try it out. Samples are also great for this purpose. Baby Cheapskate and Freebies4Mom are great sources for finding these!
• There are "Huggies people" and there are "Pampers people". (Oh, and also "Luvs people"...) Likewise, different people will love different store brands. I'm partial to CVS and Kroger myself...
• If you truly MUST use a premium diaper (and some people really, truly must), never buy them without a coupon. And a sale. You can save a bundle by observing those simple rules.

Brand loyalty? Not one my best-known traits. :) But it works for me.
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For more Works For Me Wednesday, please visit We Are THAT Family!

Beer Bread

We use a wide range of bread around here... I bake white and wheat bread quite frequently. I also buy 88 cent loaves of wheat sandwich bread at Kroger pretty often (because, well, I like the convenience, quite frankly...)

Occasionally I run out of all of those but still want to have a fresh loaf of bread to serve up with a meal. When that happens, I often turn to my trusty beer bread recipe which I can make from start to finish in less than an hour. And which requires very few ingredients.

My husband and I are not beer drinkers, but we do have some in the family. Because of that, we often have leftover beers rolling around our fridge. This recipe is perfect for using those up and, for those concerned, it's nice to know that all the alcohol bakes out and the bread does NOT, in fact, taste like beer.

Quick As A Flash Beer Bread

Ingredients:

• 2 2/3 cup flour (I use a combination of white and wheat)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 12 oz beer (any kind), freshly opened, chilled or at room temp

Directions:

• Heat oven to 375. Grease loaf pan.
• Mix dry ingredients in medium bowl. Add beer and stir with spatula until flour mixture is just moistened. Dump in prepared pan.
• Bake 50-55 minutes.
• Cool in pan on rack for 5 minutes, then turn out to cool.

This bread tastes fantastic with soup or stew and actually makes great toast! Sometimes I like to add some garlic or onion powder to the batter and I top the bread with some shredded cheese for the last ten minutes of baking. Super easy, super inexpensive, super fast homemade bread.

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For more Kitchen Tips, be sure to visit Tammy's Recipes every Tuesday!

"My Story..."Monday: Preparing Our Home

It has been quite some time since I wrote a "My Story... Monday" piece, so in case you've forgotten, I left off with when we we finally knew for sure our little girl would be getting released from the hospital. It seemed like such a whirlwind there at the end... she had been hospitalized for over 3 1/2 months but, for so much of that, we knew there was no chance of her going anywhere. Once the ball got rolling, it really rolled...

We had a lot of preparation to do at the hospital before she could be released, but we also had a lot to do at our own home. We had been living two hours south of our hometown for all those months and, as a result, our home was anything but "baby-ready".

In fact, the very first thing that needed to be done during that first week of April was to take down the Christmas tree. Yep, that's right... I had gone into labor on Dec. 22nd and she had been born on Christmas Eve. As a result, all of Christmas decorations were still up around the house. Fortunately in this scenario, we had an artificial tree so it wasn't as big a mess as it could have been.

We also had to do some quick touch-up cleaning. We didn't deep-clean the whole house or pay to have the vents completely sucked cleaned or any of that... though some preemie parents do choose to. Since our little girl did not, in fact, have significant breathing problems and we did not have a family history of asthma or allergies, it was not necessary for us.

The cradle had to be set up and we had to make sure there were adequate outlets for her oxygen tank and her monitor. We had purchased four disposable coolers to use in addition to our own two regular coolers for the sole purpose of hauling frozen milk home. But, before we could even ponder that, we had to make sure we bought a chest freezer and got it cooled down below zero degrees. I had hundreds of bottles of expressed milk to put in it. I was very, very fortunate in that department.

We didn't spend any time at all on the "fun stuff" like hanging sweet little outfits and decorating her nursery. In fact, the room that would eventually belong to our daughter was not painted or decorated in any way at that point. It would be awhile before we would even think to tackle that project...

Keep in mind, we had a 14-month old to entertain while we did all of this too. He had never met his sister yet. Because she was born during RSV season, no visitors under age 12 were allowed in the NICU. I'm sure he noticed, on some level, that we were in a different place and that we seemed to be running around a lot. But he was still a baby himself. And, as far as he knew, our only baby...

That would all change very soon however... because we were about to leave the hospital for the very last time. And this time... our little girl would be with us. I'll tell you about the first time our children met each other next time...

Just What I Needed

I was feeling overwhelmed. Frustrated. It was just one of those moments of the day when things were not coming together... I'd forgotten something important at the store... The weather was dismal... My computer locked up... I lost a good hour's worth of work... I was feeling cranky. I let out a sigh of frustration and lowered my head to the desk.

And I heard a little voice say,

"God bless you, Mama."

I started to correct my son, to tell him that I had not, in fact, sneezed. But before the words could leave my lips, tears sprung to my eyes.

What did all the rest matter? In the grand scheme of things, would any of those things really make a difference in my life? Would the world stop turning?

God had already blessed me beyond measure...

"God bless you too, sweetie..."
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For more moments and things that are definitely Finer Things, check out Amy's blog every Friday!

One Yummy Deal!!

I've mentioned it many times before- I really enjoy cooking both WITH and FOR my kids. So how excited am I to be able to tell you about an amazing deal going on over at Life As MOM? Through the end of the day today you can still get in on a very special pricing opportunity...

FishMama is offering both of her e-books -- FishMama's Guide to Cooking With Children and Pretty. Cool. Cakes. for only $2. That's right-- you'll receive BOTH books for only two dollars. What a steal! That's almost ten dollars off their regular price.

Cooking for your family is not only a rewarding, healthy way to go... it will also save you a ton of money in the long run. In FishMama's Guide to Cooking With Children, you'll find:

• Seasonal kitchen activities for parents to enjoy with their children


• Over 25 kid - friendly recipes sure to satisfy even the pickiest eaters


• Safety tips and tricks for easy kitchen clean-up

And since we all have special people in our lives who deserve a special treat, Pretty. Cool. Cakes. will help you save you even more money by providing step-by-step directions to guide you through making 13 different fabulous cakes at home!



If, like me, you already enjoy cooking with and for your children and you would like some new, fresh ideas to make it even more fun and inspired OR if you're just getting started on saving money this way, you'll definitely want to go HERE and get in on this deal while it lasts.

Cooking for my family saves me a ton of money... and today FishMama's deal helps save some cash too!
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For more Frugal Friday, be sure to check out Biblical Womanhood.

Sacrificial Hospitality Challenge: Week 1

I have a very kind neighbor. I shall call him Farmer Joe. He's always ready with a wave and does sweet things like plow our whole driveway without our ever having to ask. I wave back and let his big, goofy black dog romp through my yard. We don't "hang out" together; he's probably 30 years older than me. But we have a good relationship.

Recently, as I pondered just how gung ho I wanted to get over my garden this year- what-with being due to have a baby in June and all- there was a knock on my kitchen door. (To many people, this would be the "back door", but here in the country-- well, that's the door EVERYONE comes to!) It was Farmer Joe. He wanted to let me know that he was planning to plant a half-acre fruit and veggie garden on the land between our homes. He wanted to make sure we felt welcome to take and use whatever we wanted from that garden since it would be far more than he and his wife would need. I was so incredibly touched. And, well, relieved that I needn't plan a huge garden of my own to tend!

And so, for this week's hospitality project, I want to reach out to Farmer Joe. He has some early mornings. I often see him heading out to his tractor with the very first light. My goal this week is to meet him out there one morning with a thermos of vanilla coffee and some fresh apple muffins. It's still darn chilly around here in those early mornings (and often throughout the day too) and I think something warm might brighten his early day just a touch.

How about you? Do you have a neighbor who could use a lift? Is there something you could deliver that might make his or her day just a tad brighter? Feel free to join me! I'll tell you all about how it goes next Thursday. For more information on why I'm doing this, please see this post.