Don't worry, be happy, have hope

Banana Buttermilk Pancakes for Sunday Dinner

Banana Buttermilk Pancakes for Sunday Dinner
Originally uploaded by Just Nora

Nothing is more fun than cooking with my guys. We had an intense weekend, with Ben being rushed to the emergency room Friday evening from a severe poison ivy reaction. After 3 doses of prednisone now, he's feeling much better but it will be a week or two before he's completely healed.

I have the world's best low-fat buttermilk pancake recipe. It came from Susan Powter's book entitled "C'mon America, Let's Eat!." Her recipe, on pages 218-219, takes a few moments to assemble, but is worth the effort.

I mix all the ingredients in the work bowl of my food processor, then pour into a 1 quart glass measuring cup for Eric to pour and fry. Susan's recipecalls for blueberries, but I've made this many times with bananas or even with no fruit.

When Ben has a pack of hungry teenagers over for a sleep over, I usually double the batch. Any leftovers refrigerate beautifully and reheat in a flash for a quick work or school day breakfast.

My link for Susan's bookoffers the book for sale beginning at a price of 75 cents. That's right, I said 75 cents!  This is an incredible deal -- it's worth buying the book just for this recipe alone!

Change and Saving Money - Part One

Change is inevitable.  What we do with the opportunity to change will shape our lives, our families, our businesses.

I'm not always very happy about change.  I am a creature of habit, and I take comfort in the familiarity of things.  

These past few months, our family has dealt with a significant auto challenge (we're in transmission hell with a car that is too young and has been too well-maintained to have such issues), changes in our typical summer schedule and activities, and the cutting back on expenses.

One of the most difficult changes has been in the way we live -- such as our food expenses, auto and other transportation expenses.  And while change can be difficult to get started, we are starting to be able to realize some nice savings as a result of the modifications we've made in our household.  Here are a few of the ways we are saving money.

Check out alternative forms of transportation for vacations.  Do the math and figure out what your cost will be to fly, drive, travel by rail or other methods.  Be open to the alternatives.  We're taking a trip to Chicago this summer, and after considering the cost of gasoline, wear and tear on the car and daily parking at our destination, we discovered that the least expensive method of transportation is via Amtrak.  Savings for this trip:  $125

Carpool, and really mean it.  We set up carpools for trips to the pool, amusement park and even summer gym class with other parents.  It saves time, gas and money.  When we go to events with my parents, we take one car, which saves us gasoline and parking space. Savings per month -- $40.

Make your own latte.  I love my coffee, and I do still make occasional trips to Caribou as a treat.  With very little effort, you can make a great cuppa at home, which saves you time, money and gas. My afternoon jaunt to the coffee shop has been replaced by a homemade latte. Average savings per day - $3.50 ($7 if Eric is working from home) See:

• How to make a Caffe Latte
  
• Cafe Favorites, from the Espresso Guy
• and this video:

Replace your house light bulbs with energy-saving light bulbs. Do it as bulbs burn out, as opposed to spending a small fortune to buy all the energy-saving light bulbs you need at one time.  As I mentioned in my "Save Energy In Your Office" blog post:

According to Energy Star, “If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars.”

Buy a programmable thermostat.  These things are pretty inexpensive.  I've saved us as much as $50-$60 per month off our typical energy bill by programming the thermostat to 74 in the summer and 68 in the winter during times that I know most of the family is not home.  I use a portable fan in my office in the summer if I get warm, and in the winter, the heat of my computer equipment typically is enough.  

Eat at home more.  While I enjoy eating out at the end of a busy day when I feel too tired to cook, cooking more meals at home has saved us more than $200 per month.  Side benefit for all of us -- we're losing weight!  

Beginning to change the way your family handles expenses for travel, food and energy can seem like a daunting task.  Start with a few of our ideas above, and create a dialogue with your family to strategize on what will work best for you.

Next in the series -- Shaving Dollars Off Your Grocery Budget

One Flash memory - many uses

With today's myriad of electronics that use different types flash memory cards we find ourselves buying different formats of cards for different devices. A lot of cell phones and handheld electronic games have been using MicroSD format. Here is a nice quick reference on how many images/songs/videos will fit on a card.

Even though memory prices are dropping by what seems almost weekly, it's good if you can leverage your purchases for more than one use. Our son's cell phone/mp3 player uses MicroSD but his digital camera uses a standard Secure Digital (SD) card. We're constantly moving images from his camera to his phone. By buying a MicroSD that comes with an SD adapter he is able to take the card out the adapter in his camera and use it directly in his phone. Besides being handy it's a great way to leverage your memory card purchases.

Coming up with creative ways to save on gasoline

Antique Gasoline Pumps
Originally uploaded by cindy47452

Today I learned about MyGallons.com, which allows you to pre-purchase gasoline at today's price, then use your MyGallons.com card to fill up with gas as prices rise and enjoy the savings. (I have trouble saying enjoy the savings about anything related to fuel purchases right now).

The process is simple:

1. Sign up at MyGallons.com. Disclosure -- there is an annual $29.95 membership fee.

2. Pre-purchase gasoline to lock in a price.

3. Use your MyGallons.com card to purchase gas from your locked in pre-purchase amount.

From the MyGallons.com web site:

"If you do not save money on at least one redemption throughout the subscription year, we will refund 100% of your first year's membership fee. Upon signing up, your MyGallons Card will be sent to you. You will also receive additional cards that you can give to family members or friends to activate."

The MyGallons.com site has a location finder, which currently has text on it that reads:

"The MyGallons Card will be accepted at most gas stations in the US. Basically, if a gas station accepts credit cards, they will accept the MyGallons Card. The new location finder able to handle the traffic load will be available shortly."

Like Sam's Club and Costco help us with groceries and other household items, I'm hopeful that this site will be one tool to help us all save money on gasoline, and that it will inspire additional creative ideas to help consumers save money on this out of control expense.

Seizing the Moment

Eric and I are sitting out near our pond, sipping an after work libation and soaking up a bit of sun. Our youngest is traveling with a friend this week, and the two of us are playing "empty nest" for the week.

I was never a huge John Lennon fan.  There are a few of his songs that I've really enjoyed.  There was a track entitled Beautiful Boy that included the lyric "Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans."  Through the years, that lyric has become our family credo.

We're laughing and again quoting that today as we continue to fumble through the ongoing debacle of our 2005 Saturn VUE.  Here's a little homemade video of Eric recounting our tale to date:

We're wondering what will come next -- a decision that they need to replace the whole transmission?  Looks likely that we'll be driving a rental through the weekend.  It's been a little stressful and inconvenient.  We shared a car for a few days before requesting they provide a rental.  We've been waiting around all day for "the call" to come pick up the car, not wanting to go anywhere or do anything because we weren't sure when we'd be contacted.

The sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, our little pond is bubbling and our buoy bell is gently chiming.  This is the moment!  The life stuff -- the car stuff -- it all can wait.  Right now, we're going to focus on how blessed we are and enjoy our little afternoon oasis before we step back into the fray.

Clear out your pantry

What a great idea!

Susan Sabo of Productivity Cafe shares a great method for eating what you have and clearing out (or at least whittling down) all the stuff in your pantry.

From Susan's blog entry:

Here are the guidelines:

1. You start a menu with something that you have on hand. Let's say it's a can of chick peas, potatoes, rice, onions, frozen green beans, chutney, bananas that are starting to turn brown and frozen chicken breast.
   
2. You decide to make a dish or menu using those items. Let's say chicken curry with the items above.
   
3. Put the extra ingredients you need to make the dish on your shopping list. Let's say you need diced tomatoes to finish the ingredient list.
   
4. You purchase that item when you grocery shop for perishables like milk and fresh fruit.
   
5. You make the curry and use all those things out of your stores. And, let's say you savor every bite!
   

Go to the top and start at 1. Again with another pantry item.

Use a great recipe site like RecipeZaar.com to help you search for recipes based on ingredients.

While my pantry could use a fair amount of whittling, I try to reduce what I buy to the absolute necessities by planning meals out in advance.  I actually created a Meals calendar as one of my Google Calendars, and I share it with my husband and son.  We plan menus together, Eric and I shop for the ingredients and all three of us take turns on preparing the meals, such as this lovely cheese omelet, made by Ben.