Frugal Friday-Free Babysiting Co-Op

Like most young girls, my first "job" was to provide babysitting services for several neighborhood families. I happily received .50 cents per hour, the going rate. Now I hear of girls making $6-$10 per hour (or more)!! I scarcely understand how parents can afford to have an evening out!

Do the math: Four to five hour date: Babysitter=$40-$50, Dinner $20-$30, Movie $16, easily totaling $80-$100 for one date of dinner and a movie!!! Costs could vary depending on the activity of the evening and how frugal and creative you are. But, any way you look at it, when paying a babysitter you are shelling out a fair chunk of change for a few hours away from home and your normal responsibilities.

Here is where working together with a few trustworthy friends could save you hundreds of dollars each year in child care costs AND allow you to run errands or go on more frequent outings with your hubby!

Because we live 1,200 miles away from family, we didn't have grandparents close-by to spoil our kids every few weeks. One of the helpful things we did when the girls were young was to join a Baby Sitting Co-Op with some other ladies from our church. When I needed child care, I had an instant listing of women I knew and trusted to provide care while I was away. Here's how it worked:

All members placed their names, children's names and ages and home contact information on a list. When someone needed babysitting services, you could chose from the list of women and start calling to see who was available to watch your kids during the time you needed. You would then take your children to this friend's home and go on to your outing. I usually chose women with children the age of our kids so they could have a "Play Day". Upon returning, I would then "pay" the friend with coupons for the amount of time I was away.

The coupon system was very simple... poster board cut into "tickets", one color for a 30 minute payment and another color for one hour payment. (This was back before personal computers...now the coordinator could easily make up the coupons on the computer with the name of the Co-Op and the time value of the coupon.) The more "jobs" you accepted to babysit for other families, the more coupons you would earn. The more coupons you collected meant more free outings for you! If you ran out of coupons, you would need to do some more babysitting to reimburse your account. It is really quite simple! It's a nice break for Mom's to be able to run errands or a great way go out with hubby without breaking the bank!

Frugal Fridays is sponsored by: http://www.biblicalwomanhoodonline.com/blog.htm
Image credits: www.google.com/images

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Baking Bread....yummmmm!

Yesterday I made up three loaves of a tasty bread recipe I took from one of my cookbooks:

Luby’s Recipe Collection Cookbook

One loaf was devoured within hours of emerging from the oven as none of us could resist the smell and taste of freshly baked whole grain bread!! This bread makes GREAT toast for breakfast as well. Warm bread topped with butter is just too hard to resist!
I purchase wheat berries from a local supplier and grind my own flour. I can also make my own cracked wheat with these berries using a Kitchen Aid grain mill.

Cracked Wheat Bread
3/4 c. & 1 T. warm distilled water (110 degrees)
2 T. active dry yeast
2 t. granulated sugar
2 1/2 c. distilled water
1 1/3 c. cracked wheat
1/2 c. & 2 T. each: butter & honey
2 1/2 t. salt
2 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
4 c. whole wheat flour
4 c. all-purpose flour
Vegetable oil

In a small bowl, mix warm water, yeast & sugar. Set aside. In medium saucepan, combine remaining 2 1/2 c. water and cracked wheat. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and add butter, honey, and salt, stirring until butter melts. Remove from heat and let stand until completely cooled. In large mixing bowl, mix egg and reserved yeast mixture. Stir in cracked wheat mixture. Add flours. Using dough hook of electric mixer, beat on medium speed until dough begins to pull away from side of bowl. Lightly grease top of dough with oil. Cover loosely and let rise in warm place 30 minutes or until doubled in size. Lightly grease three 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 loaf pans. Punch down dough and shape to form loaf. Place in pan. Let rise in warm place 1 hour. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake 25 minutes or until top is golden brown and loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Makes 3 loaves. Tip: Cracked wheat is made from whole wheat berries that have been cracked to a medium coarseness. You can find it at most health food stores and at many supermarkets. Store cracked wheat in the freezer).

Recipe Credit: Luby's Recipe Collection Cookbook, pg. 93

Photo source: personal portfolio

HAPPY SPRING!!!

Psalm 118:24 This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Ok, so it has officially been spring for one week now and we sure are enjoying the beautiful weather. Brad and I ate dinner on the patio the past few nights and lingered to talk, listen to the birds and just to enjoy the evening.

We worked in the flower beds over the weekend and have restored our own corner of beauty to God's creation! I'm sorry to say our yard and flower beds have been sadly neglected these past several months. So, after a weekend of weeding, planting and mulching... we are now ready to officially welcome spring and Resurrection Sunday; a day of new beginnings!! What a joy to look out and see a large selection of "happy" flowers!

It was too nice to stay indoors all day, so this morning I grabbed my camera and went out to play around capturing some sites in our flower beds! In celebration, I thought I'd let you take a peek!

Our azealas look beautiful this year!

So far this year, the deer have not discovered this little gem of a rose bush!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

These two pictures show two of many flowering plants that a dear friend planted in our front beds the week I had to put our two faithful dogs to sleep. It was a bright spot for me during a difficult time! Thanks Glenda!

Our bougainvillea died out last winter, but we enjoyed their color so much that we purchased new ones over the weekend. Thought we'd give them another try!

I updated some of the potted plants on our back porch. I love to keep a lot of color out there as we can see this area from several rooms inside the house.

Happy Spring to each of you, and may you remember to praise the Creator as well as His Creation!

Photo Source: Personal Portfolio

Edible Flowers

I just ran across this interesting article posted at Better Homes & Gardens.com Thought I'd pass it along for your use!

Edible Flowers
Most flowers taste like their scent, with a slight sweetness, but do you know which flowers are safe to use with food?

Garnishing with Edible Flowers

You may have seen pretty flowers used as a garnish or mixed with baby lettuces in a spring salad, but have you ever wondered which flowers are safe to use with food and which should be avoided?

Edible flowers from your own organic garden (or that of someone you trust) are a fine choice, as are those that come packaged in the fresh-herb section of the supermarket. However, never eat flowers from a florist, a nursery, or a garden shop. The same rule applies to flowers you find growing along a road or in a park.

You'll want to be certain that the flowers you use with food have not been sprayed with herbicides or chemically treated. And make sure the flowers are edible even if you use them only as a garnish.

See the list of edible flowers below.
Apple blossoms
Bee balm
Carnations
Chamomile
Chive flowers
Dianthus
Geranium leaves
Hollyhocks
Impatiens
Lavender
Lilacs
Nasturtiums
Pansies
Rose petals
Sage blossoms
Snapdragons
Violets

Pet Care: Flea Control

I recently ran across some interesting ideas on controlling flea infestation on your pets that I thought I'd share. Although we don't have need of this idea any longer and can't verify it's validity, it sounds like a more workable and inexpensive solution compared to the commonly used pesticides. Let me know if you have tried this method of flea control and what your results are!


Newspaper-Saturday, March 17, 2007
by Dr. Michael Fox, The Animal Doctor

Reader Comment: One year, there was a flea infestation in our area. A friend told me that if I rubbed my dog's coat and skin with olive oil, the fleas and itching would go away. I tried it, and the constant itching and fleas disappeared as if by magic. M.M., in NY

Comment from Dr. Fox: Thanks for the very simple and surprising anti flea treatment - cheap and harmless, indeed. And, no doubt, the dog's coat has a nice shine.

Olives contain several botanical compounds that are beneficial to the skin, hair and immune system when ingested, and , like most plants, they may contain mild insect repellents that are harmless when ingested in moderate amounts.

It would seem that a mild solution of liquid dish soap and water, scented shampoo and Avon's "Skin So Soft" really do repel fleas, and they are so much safer than the expensive flea-and-tick repelling pills, sprays, dips and drop-on drugs so widely marketed.

Anyone who advocates the routine use of these insecticidal drugs as flea prevention for indoor cats and dogs (especially in regions where there is a flea-and and tick-free cold season) should have his or her head examined.
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Note from Diane: If you choose to use preventative medications, Consumer Reports claims that the online pet web site, http://www.kvvet.com/ had the best prices on flea and tick preventives like Biospot and Heartgard. I do not have experience with this company-but I thought I'd pass it on for the the pet owners out there.

Great Links for Images!!

Thanks SO MUCH to Haus Frau at Lula's Hardt for sharing her links to wonderful sources for images. What a great resource!