Guest Post: Word of The Year From Songs Kate Sang!

Photo Credit: Songs Kate Sang

I love this post from my friend Kate at Songs Kate Sang. She has some really inspirational and uplifting posts!


I've been planning on sharing my word of the year today for a little while.


Now, I find it absolutley ironic that I am announcing the my 2013 word of the year is grace.

Last week, when the entire family was sharing germs and we couldn't quite get past runny noses and upset stomachs, I wrote "dance like no one is watching" on the chalkboard.

Well, last night, I was photographing a company party - the company I used to spend my 8-5 at (Praise God for precious opportunities to connect with forever friends!). As my time was up, I sat down at a table to get a few last shots of the dance floor.

A friend came up to me and asked me to dance - and we tore up the dance floor for approximately 15.6 seconds. And then my elbow, my bootie and the floor made a swift introduction to one another. All I could think was, "Dear Lord, please tell me my no one saw that dance move or my undergarments. Amen." Remember ladies, jitterbug and hosiery just do not mix. Goodness gracious.

I spent this morning at Urgent Care and will be seeing an orthopedic surgeon tomorrow.

I have an elbow radial head fracture. Awesome.

And without further introduction - there it is: Grace.

Calm {2012}

Grace {2011}

Trust {2010}

Overshadowed {2009}

Available {2008}

Yup, we are having a redo word.

Apparently, I could use a redo on grace :)

Have a blessed day!

Kate

Guest Post: Pink Lemonade Cupcake Recipe

Have you guys heard about these Pink Lemonade Cupcakes? I had heard from several people how delish they are but I had never tried them so this weekend I decided to try them out! I found a recipe on Pinterest (of course! ha). I sent Hubby to the store for the frozen pink lemonade and the cake mix. He came home and had gotten the right cake mix but got regular lemonade instead of pink lemonade...ok, I can deal with that we will just mix it up a little and it won't quite be the same as the recipe on the blog I found.     Once I had made the cupcakes I left the rest of the frozen lemonade concentrate sitting in the sink since I still needed some to use in the icing I didn't want to put it away quite yet. Well, hubby was helping me by taking the cupcakes out of the tin and setting them on the counter. He decided to be even more helpful and poured all the rest of the lemonade down the drain and threw away the container! AH!!!!!! When it finally registered that he had poured something down the drain I turned around and he was standing there with the empty container in his hand. I said, 'did you just dump out my lemonade that I needed for the icing?' and he looked at me and said 'oh crap I did didn't I'. lol     I had to figure out how to make some lemonade from bottled lemon juice, sugar and water...once I got the right flavor and consistency I decided you couldn't even tell a difference so I used it in the icing.  

 

Recipe:

white boxed cake mix

3/4 cup lemonade concentrate

 

Icing:

3 cups powdered sugar

1 stick butter

2 tbsp lemonade (or 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tbsp sugar and water)

food color

 

Really simple and soo good! What a great treat for the spring or summer time!

 

Be sure to head over to my friend Chrissy's blog ALilDashofDiva.com and check out her awesome posts!

 

 

 

Guest Post: Stockpile Casserole!

Thanks to my good friend Sheryl at Cents'Able Shoppin for this awesome recipe!


Stockpile Casserole!


If you’re anything like me, you have OODLES and OODLES of canned soup in the cabinet. AND stuffing. All basically free from Fry’s. Yay!

Well gosh, what do you make with it all? Too easy! Stockpile Casserole! It’s really easy, and super tasty. Lets begin!

Ingredients:
1 can Cream of Chicken
1 can Cream of Mushroom
1 can Cream of Celery
1 lb. of Shredded Chicken

MIX those together. Dump into a well-greased baking dish. Top with prepared Stuffing. Pop in the oven at 350 until the stuffing is lightly brown on top. Top with shredded cheese the last few minutes of baking.

SUPER delicious served with applesauce, and mixed veggies on the side!

Guest Post: Lynn's Corn Dip!

Hello there Arizona Thrifty Mom Readers!

My name is Becca, and I’m dropping by from my blog, Our Crazy Boys.

I can only visit for a little bit, though, because… well… the boys go a bit nuts when
I’m not around. Just last week, Jack stamped our return address on himself “just in
case he got lost.”

I thought that during this busy time of year, you might appreciate a time saving gift.
And since I’m a giving kind of gal…

Lynn’s Corn Dip

(Yup, I said my name was Becca. Lynn is my best friend, and she was the first person to make this for
me… so, it shall forever be known as “Lynn’s Corn Dip!”)

Ingredients:

1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup shredded colby-jack Cheese
¼ cup parmesan cheese
1 can drained fiesta corn (the one with the red and green peppers in it)
1 can diced green chilies
1 can diced jalapenos (sometimes I only use half the can, though)

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, pour into a pie plate and bake for 30ish
minutes on 350 degrees. Serve with tortilla chips.

---

I love this dip because the ingredients are things that I usually have in my pantry
and fridge. I make it for holiday parties, or when company stops by unexpectedly.

Oh, and you should keep recipe cards on the counter next to the dip because people
always ask for the recipe!

So, go try the dip. I’m sure you have all the ingredients in your pantry… then come
back and tell me how it was.

It’s ok… I’ll wait…

Guest Post: Giving, A New Christmas Tradition!

Thanks to Mindy from The Way We Save for this guest post!

Giving a New Christmas Tradition

During this time of year we are all busy buying gifts for our loved ones and friends. Lists
are made and we try to buy items that are on the list so that everyone gets what they want
or need. Also because we know that it will bring a smile to their faces. We believe that
gifts are given at Christmas time because Jesus has given us so much we want to show
His love to others by giving them gifts. Ephesians 2:8-9 says: For by grace you have
been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing, it is a gift from God, not a
result of works, so that no one may boast.

After having our daughter, my husband and I talked and decided that this time of year
would be perfect to teach her about giving to others in need. Our daughter has so many
toys and just gets more every Christmas. I know that my daughter loves her toys, but she
does not play with them all and mommy does not like all the clutter J. We wanted to
wait to start this tradition when she would understand why we were giving her toys away
and who we were giving them too. So now that she is 2 we thought it would be perfect.

Our Church has a Toy Drive every year at Christmas. They collect gently used toys to
give to children in Mexico that do not have any or cannot afford toys. We thought that
this would be great for us.

During this year we have been taking the toys that our daughter was not using and putting
them in the 4th bedroom (a place that she does not go). This way they were out of sight
out of mind. Last Saturday we sat down with her and talked to her about giving her toys
to boys and girls that do not have toys. Then grabbed all the toys we had been collecting
out of the room and dumped them on the floor. We designated a location on the floor for
the toys she wanted to donate and a location for the toys she wanted to keep. We thought
for sure that this would be a struggle and that she would want to keep everything, but she
did so good. She only kept one thing!!! Of course it was the one thing that mom and dad
hoped that she would donate.

Then on Sunday we took them all to Church to put in the Toys for Mexico bins. We
reminded her of what she was doing and she unloaded them all into the bins. She told
people as they walked by that she was giving her toys away and was happy about it.
I am so happy that we decided to start this tradition with our daughter and will continue
to do it for years to come. Acts 20:35 says: In all things I have shown you that by
working hard in this we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus,
how he himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

Interested in starting this tradition? There are lots of places that will take gently used
toys. Try your local Church, Goodwill, and Big Brother and Big Sisters.

Guest Post: Coupon Organizing!

The following is a guest post courtesy of LivingTheDomesticLife!


As couponers we all have something in common, we all like to save money! We like coupons and we like it even more when the coupons match up to the sales! When your coupons are organized you can truly maximize your savings with each trip to the store.

There are three popular coupon organization methods. Each has its pros and cons.

Accordion File or File Box: One of the pros to this method is having your coupons with you when you shop. The accordion file is usually a smaller container and a much smaller scale of coupons. The File box can grow to be quiet large. You would need to categorize your coupons once they are clipped and file them into the sections. A con to this method would be having to flip through each coupon in a category to find the coupon you are looking for. I would assume it would take some time to pull expired coupons too since you would again need to flip through each coupon checking the date.

The Whole Insert Method: This is a fairly simple way to organize your coupons. You simply keep the insert whole as it comes, mark the date on the front and file. You would keep a file box of some sort with file folders inside for each weeks inserts. Lets say you needed a coupon for $0.25/1 Bounty from the 8/29 P& G Insert. You would simply find the file labeled 8/29 and pull the insert out and clip the coupon! The Pro: The least time consuming method by far. The con: You wouldn't have your coupons with you at the store for that spontaneous deal. You would need to know ahead of time what coupons you would potentially be using. Although if you did find a deal you couldn't pass up you could always go back later if its worth the extra time.

The Binder Method: For this method you would basically have a zip up binder that has coupon holders of some sort inside. Some people use old baseball cards holders or you can find coupon holder sheets made for coupons binders. You would create categories and use dividers to keep the sections separate. Since you would need to clip any coupons you think you may use one con could be the time it could take to clip and file. The pro however is having all your coupons with you for that great deal you didn't plan on finding. Another Pro to the Binder is being able to flip through the pages and scan for a coupon. With a quick flip to the correct category and with just a glace you can spot the coupon your looking for!

Personally I prefer the coupon binder! When I first started couponing I used an accordion file. That lasted all of 2 weeks! There just wasn't enough room and I really didn't like to dig through each category to find one coupon. This past summer I tried the whole insert method. I found that I missed more deals by not having my coupons with me and because I wasn't spending the time cutting coupons out I hardly knew what coupons were out there.

I try to update my binder once a week typically Saturday mornings before I grocery shop. As long as I update it weekly it truly isn't that time consuming. I prefer to stack my inserts and cut like coupons all at once. Then I lay them out in groups matching the categories to my binder. Once all my coupons are cut I go section by section and first remove any expired coupons then I add in my new coupons. I've found Ms. A's Coupon Orginizers to be the best coupon holders. With these I don't have to cut each coupon down real small or spend extra time folding them to fit into a small slot.

After I've made my list for the store I pull out the coupons I plan to use and put them in a pencil pouch at the front of my binder. As I'm shopping if an item isn't in stock I can quickly pull the coupon out and put it into another pouch to be refiled later. If I find a coupon to use when shopping I pull it from the section its in and add it to the pencil pouch. This way I'm ready to go when I get to check out!

Every method has its pros and cons it comes down to what will work best for you and the time you want to put into it.

What method have you found works best for you?