Day 40, BIG changes, and Homemade Lip Balm

We made it!! Today is day 40 of our 40 Day Challenge! What have we learned and gained from this adventure? I thought we lived a very frugal life but we have discovered that we can be even more frugal with little work! We slowly ate our way through a freezer full of meats that needed to be rotated out, I baked a lot, had to get creative when we ran out of things and when I didn't have wrapping paper for a birthday party, sewed a Halloween costume, and we had fun the entire time! Hubby and I were discussing the past 40 days and we've decided that we will not be going back to the old way. We won't be following our rules as closely as we did, but we saved a lot more money than we ever thought we could!

During the past 40 days I had plenty of time to reflect on my blog. Yep, my blog. My life requires structure and my blog just hasn't had it (hence the random posts that are sometimes consistent and other times nonexistent). So, I have created structure! I will now have themes to everyday to help bring about ideas for myself and consistency to you, my readers.


The BIG reveal

• Mondays: Munchies Monday - All things snack food. Some healthy, some not, but ALL delicious!
• Tuesdays: Thrifty Tuesday - Ways to save money! Do-it-yourself projects, bargain ideas, and anything money!
• Wednesdays: Whatever Wednesday - Who knows where this could go! Fun pictures, cute things my kids say/do, random topics that don't fit anywhere else. The possibilities are endless!
• Thursdays: Tasty Thursday - All things tasty! Recipes for dinner, breakfast, dessert, YUM!
• Fridays: Fun Time Friday - Want some fun ideas for the kids? See what kinds of crazy projects we're up to around here!

It all looks and seems overwhelming, but really, this is my life and my blog is a reflection of my life. Now to just snap pictures along the way!

In honor of our first Thrifty Tuesday, I thought I would share my homemade lip balm recipe. I've been making this for a few years but have finally tweaked the recipe enough and have found the perfect ratios!

Melt beeswax and olive oil in the microwave, 30 seconds at a time at half power.

Using a needle, puncture a hole in the vitamin E capsules and drain into beeswax mixture. Stir.

Fill containers. I have seen many different containers at our local natural food store and online. Ours have now been reused multiple times.

Let cool and then cap.
These would make great stocking stuffers!!

Recipe:
1 oz Beeswax (found in the candle section of your local craft store)
2 Tbls Olive Oil
3-4 Vitamin E capsules

• Melt beeswax and olive oil in the microwave, 30 seconds at a time at half power.
• Puncture a hole in vitamin E capsules and drain into beeswax mixture. Stir.
• Fill containers.
• Let cool and then cap.
• Makes approx. 10 tubes of lip balm.

Day 22

I definitely had to check the calendar to discover what day of our 40 Day Challenge we were on. Why? We are so into the groove of this no shopping thing that I don't even think about it anymore! Sure, I've considered making a grocery list here and there (my whole life is run by a list), but why? We're out of some types of flour, I'll just adjust our baking. We no longer have any lettuce or tomatoes, but it's fall, who eats salad this time of year? Until we run out of toilet paper, I won't be calling a household emergency. Even then, do I really want to get the kids ready for the store? Maybe we'll start using cloth...or not.

What have I been doing with all of my free time? Redirecting my lists towards something productive. I have lists and lists of blog post ideas, things to make, thoughts to share. Why haven't I posted them yet? I'm still in the building stage. Notice the new blog layout? It's bright, it's fun, and it's the only hint you're getting!

When will the big reveal happen? After our 40 Day Challenge. I'm giving myself a couple more weeks to polish and prepare.

I'll leave you with a photo of the little guy. Why? Because he's cute and a photo of toilet paper isn't all that exciting.

Day 11

Day 11 of our 40 Day Challenge.

Homemade whole wheat pasta, sauce made from fresh tomatoes, and homemade peasant bread.

We're a quarter of the way through our 40 day journey and honesty, I really don't feel as though it is hard enough. Are we cheating? No. We have so far spent $1.99 on a calendar. Sure, I could make a calendar, but I love how this one is set up and I've been using it for a few years now. I found it at a surplus store and as the saying goes "You should have bought it when you saw it," so I bought it.

Perhaps this challenge feels easy since we have become fairly self sufficient in most of our needs. Our babies are virtually free. I already have all the cloth diapers I need. Between both of my diapered kids (thankfully one is almost potty trained), I'm estimating we save about $80 a month! And I am constantly, without effort, producing food for my little girlie. I don't even want to think about how much formula would cost a month!

I've also found out how thankful I am and helpful it is to buy everything in bulk. When I see something on sale, we start filling the cart. Almost everything we have and are currently eating our way through was bought in large quantities while it was on sale.

What have I missed? There is something about grocery shopping that I really enjoy. Filling our cart with delicious foods and dreaming up ways to feed my family while trying to keep my two children calm and appropriate for public. You know what, now that I think of it, I don't really miss that adventure.

I have also found more time to continue my cleaning adventure. I'm quite determined to get my house in tip top shape. It really is starting to get there. It's amazing how much free time you can find when you aren't busy getting children prepared to go shopping! Have I mentioned how much I don't miss that?

On a side note: check out my friend's new blog A Family of Three Was Meant to Be. Her and her husband have decided to take on their own 40 day challenge! They are keeping track of how much they are saving every week and then taking that money and donating it to the Church!! In one week, they have already saved $75!

How could you incorporate a 40 Day Challenge into your home??

Cookie Love

Day 4 of our 40 Day Challenge.

We all have "one of those days" and mine was definitely yesterday. To cheer me up, Hubby decided to make me something. He wouldn't often go out and buy something to bring about my happiness, but since we've been so focused on making everything, he opted to make me some Peanut Butter Cookies. If cookies don't scream love, I don't know what does! Ok, maybe chocolate. Yeah, chocolate screams love. But cookies come in close behind!

Did you know that you can substitute 1/4 cup of applesauce per egg or 1/2 of a mashed banana? I do it quite often and since we had run out of eggs, Hubby used applesauce instead.

Peanut Butter Cookies
recipe from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook

1 cup shortening
1 tsp vanilla
1 cupe granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten (we were out, so he substituted 1/4 cup applesauce per egg)
1 cup peanut butter
3 cups flour
1/8 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda

Preheat the oven to 350F and grease some cookie sheets. In a mixing bowl, thorough cream the shortening, vanilla, and sugars. Add the eggs and beat well. Stir in the peanut butter. Mix together the flour, salt, and baking soda, and add to the peanut butter mixture, combining thoroughly. Form into tiny balls with the palm of your hands and place on the cookie sheets. Press each cookie twice with the back of a fork to make a crisscross design. Bake about 8-10 minutes or until firm.

Whoopie Pie Cake and Fruit Snacks

What does a Whoopie Pie Cake and fruit snacks have in common? The adventures of Day 2 of our 40 Day Challenge!
Several days ago I volunteered to make a cake for my grandmother's birthday (we're celebrating tomorrow). Definitely didn't think that one through before deciding to embark on this new adventure. I was going to make a fancy cake with candies on it, but alas, we can't buy them right now. So, I found a marshmallow frosting and made a chocolate cake! To make it all fancy, I'm calling it a Whoopie Pie Cake.

Then came the fruit snacks. I don't know about you, but I LOVE fruit snacks. Who doesn't enjoy reliving their childhood? I recently came across a recipe to make my own. I'm all about multitasking, so while my cake was in the oven and the kids were napping, I moved onto my blueberry fruit snacks. Boy are they delicious!! Definitely not as sweet as the processed version, but so much healthier. No sugar and nothing fake about them. The only problem? They're going to disappear far too quickly.

40 Day Challenge

Hubby and I spent a couple of hours today making and freezing 10lbs of homemade whole wheat pasta. He comes from a very Italian family and he has always enjoyed homemade pasta. We had a couple dozen eggs that we needed to use, so we figured making pasta would be the best way to use them.

It was a great bonding activity and we discussed how we should make this a more permanent thing. And so, our 40 day challenge began.

What does the 40 day challenge entail?

• If it can be made, we will make it.
• We will only purchase items that we cannot make ourselves like eggs, milk, produce, flour, sugar, etc.
• We can only buy meats if we go through everything in our freezer (very unlikely).
• Fabric can be bought ONLY after the current supply has been looked through and there is no suitable option found (ex. I need brown fabric for Peter's Halloween costume and I don't have any). This fabric must be found on clearance.
• We will not purchase any clothing.
• If we run out of soaps, shampoos, or cleaning supplies, we will make our own.We can buy what we need to make these, but we must find the least expensive recipes to make them.

Why are we doing this?  

• It will be great to know exactly what is in everything we eat and use.
• We have a freezer and pantry full of food that really needs to be cycled through, this will force us to do so.
• We're really curious to see how long we can go without spending any money. How much will it really save us?
• We had so much fun just spending time together making pasta, this will be a great adventure for our marriage as we tackle this challenge together!