Use What You Have: Maple Seeds

(Sorry, no pics with this post, just to see how it feels.)

Now, I have mostly a lot of love for Mother Maple, she who graces our backyard and fair skin with copious amounts of dark, cool shade and provides us with feather soft autumn leaves in which to plunge our lazy bodies. But. BUT. In the springtime, I find it a bit difficult to appreciate the... blatant fecundity of Old Mama Maple. There isn't one spot on our property (I exaggerate not) that isn't blessed with the bearing of one of Mother Maple's progeny. In other words, I end up weeding a whole heckuva lot of maple seedlings from my garden.

Only now... Now I know. Now I know how to beat Mama Maple at her own game. Tonight found me hanging lazily from branches and scaling that rough, shaggy trunk of hers to gather those green little whirlybirds. And then? And then I ATE THEM. Yes I did.

I'll admit, this is one of those situations where, in caloric terms, I'm not sure the end justifies the means. It took a loooong time to split the husks off of each of those little seeds. This is very slow food we're talkin'! You get a big pile of green husks and a little itty bitty pile of food. Still, there're going to be fewer maple saplings to remove from the garden this year...

In regards to preparation:
-Break off the green outer husk (they're still edible if the hulls are brown, but I've read that they get bitter at that point)
-Snack on a couple to see if they're sweet enough or if you have to boil off the tannins
-If bitter, boil and dump the water. Repeat until bitter taste is gone.
-Otherwise, boil until tender (mine took ~15 minutes).
-Season with salt, pepper, and/or butter to your fancy.
-Ingest.

I have no experience with this, but you can also roast them or even dry the seeds and ground them into flour.

In regards to taste: I actually preferred them raw. The larger seeds seemed to be more bitter than the smaller ones. It's best to get 'em young, I guess. I boiled some, and they were good but quite bland. I salted them and smothered them in butter. All in all, for free food, it was good!

Hot Peppers

Last year, my pepper crop was a dismal failure. I think I got only one measly pepper from the few plants that actually germinated, so this year I decided to add a little something to my scheme and see how the plants reacted. Unfortunately, our gardening budget for this year has been maxed out. I had to think of something for less than cheap... something free.


My version of the cloche: repurposed baby food jars. Don't mind the wonky spacing. In real life, they are actually evenly spaced, but the camera was at a weird angle.

I was hoping that my improvised cloches would provide enough heat retention that I 'd get a higher germination rate and faster growth of pepper plants than I did last year with no added protection. So far, the germination has been quicker but not higher. I'm leaving the jars over top of the seedlings until they outgrow them. We'll see how it goes.

Menu Plan Monday

Unfortunately, I didn't get to make most of the dinner dishes from last week's menu because two of my littles got sick, and when my kids are sick there's only one meal that they'll have: homemade chicken noodle soup. So that's what we had for dinner Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I did manage to sneak the Tortellini in Broth with Escarole into their bowls, but none of the kids would touch the escarole. I thought the dish was delicious though! If you can't find escarole or just want a substitute, spinach or nettles would be wonderful.

I'm sure Monday at least will be another chicken noodle soup day, but here's the plan for now:

Monday: Breakfast-- Cheesy Scrambled Eggs on Buttered Toast
Cinnamon Applesauce
Dinner-- Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Tuesday: Breakfast-- Walnut Pancakes
Dinner-- The Husband's Choice

Wednesday: Breakfast-- Baked Oatmeal
Dinner-- Pork and Green Bean Stir-Fry with Rice

Thursday: Breakfast-- Breakfast Burritos
Dinner-- Roasted Chicken Breasts with Carrots and Onions

Friday: Breakfast-- Chunky Monkey Oatmeal
Dinner-- Chili and Romaine Salad

Saturday: Breakfast-- Raisin Oatmeal Muffins
Dinner-- Spaghetti with Meat Sauce and Italian Salad

Sunday: Breakfast-- Baked Oatmeal
Dinner-- Homemade Pizza

Don't forget to join us for Menu Plan Monday!

Frugal Babywearing: How to Carry a Baby in a Bed Sheet

(Video from Magic City Slingers Blog)

Babywearing may be all the rage now, but it's hardly new and really, truly does not have to be expensive. A simple bedsheet will do in a pinch, as the video above shows you. It'll take some practice, but nothing more than the Moby Wrap or the Ultimate Baby-Wrap Carrier requires.

The "carrier" featured in the video does not require any sewing, but if you'd like to get a little more tailored with your bedsheet:

Sling Article and How-To
Karma Baby's Sling Pattern

And if you've already got mini-mamas at home, like me:

A DIY Child's Pouch Sling @ Chasing Cheerios

Oh how I'm looking forward to the days of having a baby snuggled against my chest... *sigh*

First Menu Plan Monday

One of my goals for last year was to begin planning our menus to cut down on grocery costs, junk food purchases, and pantry nonsense overload. It's really transformed our grocery bill, and I love the stress relief that comes from not having to hunt for something to make each meal. This year, I thought it might be fun to participate in I'm an Organizing Junkie's weekly Menu Plan Monday event. Not only might I pick up a few new, yummy recipes or menu planning tips, but I hope to pick up a few new friends too!

So, welcome to everyone that is visiting from the Organizing Junkie's blog. Please feel free to comment! I can't wait to see your menus.

Just a note on my menu method: I will include breakfast and dinner items, but not lunch. We generally eat leftovers for lunch, so there's no need for me to plan for it. If there are no leftovers (happening a little too often with this pregnant mama around *ahem*), we have either harboiled eggs with whatever fruit/veggies are available or peanut butter sandwiches with aforementioned fruit/veggies.

Monday: Breakfast-- Cheesy Scrambled Eggs on Buttered Toast
Cinnamon Applesauce
Dinner-- Cheese Manicotti and Romaine Salad

Tuesday: Breakfast-- Banana Pancakes with Peanut Butter
Dinner-- The Husband's Choice

Wednesday: Breakfast-- Baked Oatmeal
Dinner-- Tortellini in Broth with Escarole

Thursday: Breakfast-- Cheesy Scrambled Eggs on Buttered Toast
Cinnamon Applesauce
Dinner-- Pork and Green Bean Stir-Fry with Rice

Friday: Breakfast-- Chunky Monkey Oatmeal
Dinner-- Roasted Chicken Breasts with Carrots and Onions

Saturday: Breakfast-- Apple Cinnamon Muffins
Dinner-- Chili and Romaine Salad

Sunday: Breakfast-- Baked Oatmeal
Dinner-- Homemade Pizza

Thrift Tip:

Even thrift stores have sales!

The key to taking advantage of these sales here in Marion (and probably other small towns as well) is to make regular visits. I try to make a thrift store trip once a week during my regular grocery shopping excursion. Will I miss some sales this way? Certainly, but I'm okay with that because I'm shopping when I need something, not just for the sake of shopping. If you're an eBayer or just enjoy looking for deals, you'll want to stop by a couple more times in the week.

The sales for my local stores are posted inconspicuously on the interior entrance doors of the building, for example, "All purses 25% off." There are almost always sales right before the holidays as well, just like any other retail outfit. I've called all the thrift stores I know of here in Marion to ask if they had periodicals or newsletters or any other form of notifying customers of their promotionals, but I got a "no" from all of them. The lady I talked to at Goodwill, in fact, insisted that they do not run sales because of their "everyday low pricing," but I happen to know that isn't true. Instead, I'll keep stopping by and pay attention to the postings.

If you're in a large city, you may be able to find sales postings for your local thrift stores online because these stores have more sales competition, but even many of these large retailers have no outside promotional postings.

Keep your eyes open!

Homemade Gift (Kinda Sorta)

Annie absolutely cannot stop drawing and crafting. She wants to do it all day long, every day, and she brings at least 5 drawings or projects home each day from school. For her birthday, then, I decided that she might appreciate her very own art box. This way she doesn't have to ask me to get the crayons for her (which are put up because a certain 2-year-old has covered every single downstairs wall with doodles), and I got to introduce some new craft items to her that have been stored in my cache.

In total, this gift cost about $20 because there were a few items that we don't generally keep on hand in the house that I wanted to add especially for her. The box itself is actually my old Caboodle that I kept my makeup and accessories in as a teen. In the box we have:

3 craft punches (dog, cat, and paw print for my little animal lover)-- From my scrapbooking stash

Mini stapler-- Bought new for use in making her own booklets

Large eraser-- Gathered from the kids' art supplies

Pencil sharpener-- Gathered from the kids' art supplies

Two pencils-- Gathered from the kids' art supplies

Glue stick-- Gathered from the kids' art supplies

Safety scissors-- Bought new since we only had one pair in the house

Heart shaped paperclips-- Bought new (and grudgingly)

8 Glitter glue pens-- Bought new; the most expensive new item, but I knew she'd love them!

Crayons-- Gathered from the kids' art supplies

White sketching paper-- I looked all over for a mini sketchbook that would fit, but couldn't find one. Instead, I cut up some larger sheets we already had at home.

Construction paper-- Again, small sheets cut from larger sheets we already had

Pipe cleaners-- Gathered from the kids' art supplies

Beads-- Bought new

Elastic thread for beading-- Bought new

Cinderella stamp and pad of stamping paper-- Received in a party gift bag earlier in the year

Phew! I think that's it. As her skills improve, we'll add things gradually. For now, this keeps her plenty occupied. She makes magic wands from the pipe cleaners, bracelets and necklaces from the beads and elastic thread, and has covered every sheet of paper in glittery doodles. Fun stuff!

The Children Are Nestled All Snug in Their Beds... Part 2

Just goes to show that daddies are good co-sleepers too.

Word to the wise: don't type your blog posts in too much of a hurry. It's inevitable that you will forget something. I rushed a bit through my previous post on how to keep infants and children warm at night in the chill of a 55 degree home, thus I neglected to add the last tip.

Sticking with our Victorian Night Before Christmas theme, imagine how the beds of the poem's subjects would have looked. A stand alone metal bed frame with a mattress perched on top? Guess again. Canopy and four poster beds were very common back then and with good reason. The drapery surrounding the bed is just one more layer of insulation, keeping out the cold and keeping in the body heat. So, if after layers of pajamas, socks, and blankets your child is still cold, or if they absolutely must sleep by themselves, consider adding some drapery around the bed. We've all seen the cutesy mosquito netting kits for sale in department stores that promise to make your daughter feel like a princess, but you don't even have to buy anything to make this idea work. Grab some extra sheets, blankets, curtains, or yards of fabric that you have laying around the house and nail/staple it right to your child's ceiling if you must. It may not be pretty or ultra-convenient, but it will work.

The method I prefer, if your child doesn't have a canopy bed, is to attach curtain rods to the ceiling and hang the drapery fabric from that, very similar to this. If the bed is against a wall or in a corner, you can simply install the rods at the open sides of the bed. The wall won't provide as much insulation as the canopy will, but it'll save you money and/or time this way and still give much the same effect of keeping warmth in. Make simple tiebacks from your ribbon stash (what?? you don't have one!?), fabric cords, or strips of fabric. You can get as fancy or as simple as you'd like with this. Let your imagination and the supplies you already have guide you.

A canopy is probably not the best idea for an infant who is old enough to pull to a standing position by themselves or for toddlers who still live in close connection to our genetic relatives, the apes. Those curtain rods will not hold up to a lot of pulling or swinging, and you don't want to add anything that might become a choking hazard. For your newborn or very small infant who is not yet doing much moving in their bed, install the curtain rods far enough out from the edges of the crib that they won't be able to grab them, even accidentally, through the bars of their crib.

One very last thing. Do your best not to put your child's bed/crib near a window. It's inevitable, regardless of how new or good your windows are, that there will be a draft. I know that sometimes it's just impossible not to use a window wall because of a room's configuration, but do your best. If the bed must be by a window, get some thermal insulating drapes to keep out the drafts.

If anyone has any pictures or other do-it-yourself canopy ideas, please share!

The Children Are Nestled All Snug in Their Beds...

The twins at 5 months old, all cuddled up together.

Crunchy Chicken's Freeze Yer Buns Challenge is getting close, so despite outdoor temperatures of nearly 80 degrees (!), I've been thinking warm thoughts. One of the questions that seems to be asked every year for the Freeze Yer Buns Challenge is how to keep infants and children warm when you've decided to turn the thermostat down to 55 degrees at night. The twins, my first children, were born in November when we lived in a drafty apartment. I quickly began to look backwards, into history, to see how babies were kept warm in the days before we could set our digital thermostats at whatever temperature made us most comfortable. Here are just a few of the strategies I used (and still use) to keep our little ones nice and snug:

The best source of heat in cold weather is body heat, in my opinion. It works quickly, doesn't require artifical and possibly dangerous energy sources, and creates family unity. That said, my first recommendation for keeping any infant or child warm is to welcome them into your bed. This is called co-sleeping nowadays, and there is plenty of information available about how to do so safely. This can be very scary for someone who has been conditioned to think that co-sleeping is dangerous, and I understand. But remember: "According to the National SIDS Alliance, approximately 2,700 babies die each year from SIDS; the vast majority of those sleeping alone in a crib. In the CPSC study, 515 died between 1990 to 1997 directly as a result of poor safety in co-sleeping." Both mom and dad, but especially a breast-feeding mother, are specially designed to help their infants regulate their body temperatures. That's something a blanket just can't do.

Co-sleeping is also often the most frugal sleeping option for baby. The purchase of a crib, bassinet, or cradle can be delayed or put off altogether. I purchased cribs and was given bassinets for the twins, but I rarely used them at night. (There are those times when you just need some time in bed with your partner to... bond ;-) If your child(ren) has a separate room, you can shut off the register to their room at night and funnel all the heat to the room you're sleeping in together.

As an offshoot of parental co-sleeping, there's also sibling co-sleeping. All those renditions of The Night Before Christmas with a bedful of sleeping children are more than quaint, they're practical. Again, body heat is best for keeping everyone snug. It is not wise to keep an infant or very young child in bed with older siblings. The Bean has only started sleeping with Annie this winter, and The Bean is now more than two years old. Annie and Airius did sometimes sleep together as infants, but as toddlers they preferred separation from each other, even when they were in Mommy's and Daddy's bed. There may be squabbling between children who share a bed, but there's a lot of bonding and closeness too. When the girls are just getting under each other's skin, the threat of having to go to their own beds is usually enough to quiet them. Airius's main reason for wanting a baby brother was because he wants someone to share a room with. Since the twins are only 4 (soon to be 5... boo hoo!), we do not discourage him from sleeping with his sisters if he wants. It just seems to be that they segregate themselves from sleeping together.

Get out your knitting needles because suggestion #3 is to wear a hat to bed. Are we seeing a theme emerge here? "And Mama in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap, had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap..." Okay, you don't have to knit your own. Just grab a stocking hat from your winter stash and keep it on all day and night. Be sure both your infants and children have them too. Though the exact percentage is debated, most scientists agree that a high percentage of your body heat is lost through your head. The head of an infant is large in proportion to the rest of its body, so this is especially true for them. Keep those baby beanies on your little one! Most children I know absolutely love hats of all types, so I've never had one balk at wearing a nightcap. Make sure they fit snugly on those little heads so that they don't pose a choking hazard. There are so many cute hat patterns for kids and babies that you may have a whole slew of them by the end of winter! Try to stay away from hats with strings around the neck. These could be a choking hazard for children while they sleep.

After your littles have donned their night caps, make sure their feet are covered. Have you ever put your feet in warm or cold water and felt a temperature shift in your whole body? Exactly. I'd recommend a thinner, daily wear sock go on the feet first. Cover these with a thick woolen sock. It's best if both pairs of socks go to at least mid-calf. This will prevent kids from kicking their socks off in their sleep and add a little warmth to the legs where pajama pants or nightgowns can hike up and leave skin bare. For infants and small children, footed sleepers are a blessing. You can put socks either underneath or over top of the footies. I've had better luck putting the socks over top. Somehow, my kids always manage to kick the socks off if they're inside the footies. Then they just have big, lumpy socks rolling around in their jammies all night. Not comfortable. My kids have never seemed to need more than two pairs of socks, but use your best judgement.

Layering pajamas and blankets is an easy enough solution. This doesn't have to be layering pajama on top of pajama. Simply adding a t-shirt under a nightshirt or a pair of body hugging thermal underwear underneath can be enough. With infants, I recommend a long-sleeved onesie underneath their pajamas. If they're sleeping with you, this should be more than sufficient (it may even be too much). If your baby is on its own at night, I'd suggest adding a sleep sack over the pajamas. It is both more dangerous and more likely for your baby to be too hot than too cold. Don't feel extremities to test for warmth. Touch their bare chest instead or their bare head. For children over a year old, layering blankets is a no-brainer. Do not put loose blankets atop your infant. We used to tuck flannel receiving blankets into the sides of the crib when the babes were napping during the day, but at night they only used sleep sacks when they weren't sleeping with me. In bed with me, I'd layer tight-fitting clothing over my chest and simply keep the blankets tucked around my waist, legs, and feet. This way, the baby was in no danger of suffocation from our bulky blankets.

Flannel sheets don't create warmth, but they seem to retain it better than the cotton sheets of summer. If you compare climbing into a winter bed dressed with flannel sheets to one dressed with cotton sheets, well, there really is no comparison. It's just not as cold. In my area, flannel sheets are difficult to find in thrift stores, freecycle, or garage/yard sales, but you can often get them at the various discount stores in all kinds of cute prints. My goal (yet to be reached) is to have two sets of flannel sheets for each bed in the house.

If you've got a rice pouch for easing tummy aches and breast woes, heat your rice pouch to a safe temperature and stick it in your infant's or child's bed before they go to sleep. With older children, you can leave the pouch in bed for them to tuck their feet against. With small children and infants, remove the pouch before they climb under their covers. Those flannel sheets will stay warm for quite awhile after baby is laid down, making it easier for them to keep that body temperature. You can also add various herbs to your pouch to soothe baby. Warming herbs, like cinnamon, ginger, or cloves can be nice as well but may keep baby awake. Have fun experimenting.

This is how I manage to keep my children (and myself!) dreaming of sugar plums each winter. So snuggle up those babies in their cute little nightcaps and hibernate for awhile. You will not want to get out of bed, I swear. :) What are your suggestions for keeping infants and children warm in cold weather?

Organizing a Garden Expansion

Yes, that's right. The gardening season hasn't even ended, and I'm already dreaming up next year's garden. The truth is, I'll change my mind weekly from now until next January or February when my seed orders must be in. With all this indecisiveness, I could end up spending far more than I can afford on plants and seeds as they strike my fancy. That just wouldn't do! I'm on a strict gardening budget, just as I am for everything else, so I have a system to help keep myself on the straight and narrow, budget-friendly garden path.

I've split my budget into three categories: the Edible Garden, the Other Garden, and the Annual Garden Project. Just for clarity's sake, there may be crossover between the two plant sections.

For the Edible Garden, I allow myself to purchase a set of plants or seeds for each of four sections:

~Annual Food Crop-- You could further divide this category into warm season and cold season crops if you like, but my budget this year is likely to be particularly small with a new baby on the way, so I'll be adding only one new annual veggie to my garden.

~Perennial Food Crop-- This could be anything from fruit and nut trees to grapevines to berry bushes or asparagus. Whatever it is, it's likely to be much more costly than the other edible garden purchases because most of these aren't purchased as seed. You can purchase seeds for most of them, but these usually take at least a few years to start producing. In the case of trees, it could be a decade or more. Keep that in mind and budget accordingly. Also keep in mind that many of the plants in this category need several plants or varieties for proper pollination. This can hit your budget especially hard.

~Herb-- These are useful little buggers, attracting pollinators to your yard, providing protection to your veggies when used as companions, providing flavor to your homegrown meals, as well as providing medicine more often than not. This is always my weak budget area. I see herbs or herb seeds, and I. Want. To. Buy. It's very important for me to stay on track here because even a few extra seed packets or plants can really add up.

~Edible Flower-- This is where the edible garden and "other" garden sometimes crossover. Edible flowers are a must in my garden. I use most of them in a manner very similar to herbs.

The Other Garden is also split into four sections, based on the time of the year in which they bloom or provide the most interest. This allows me to maximize the food and shelter for pollinators and other garden beneficials, like birds, throughout the year. The categories are:

~Spring Bloomer-- Um, obviously, plants that bloom in spring. Again, if your budget is larger than mine, you can further break this section down into early, mid, and late spring bloomers. I just try to alternate years, buying early one year, mid the next, and late after that. These plants are so very important since they provide the earliest food sources for beneficials just coming out of hibernation. The earlier your garden is in bloom, the earlier you'll see those happy buggies humming through it and the more likely they are to stick around for your summer veggies that need their pollinating powers. Spring bloomers are also a quick fix to my SAD.

~Summer Bloomer-- Plants that are at their height of bloom or interest in the summer months. Because this is also the apex of my vegetable garden, I usually end up picking an herb or edible flower for this category.

~Autum Bloomer-- It's important to keep those beneficials well-fed all the way up until hibernation, so fall blooming plants are a must. They're also the most difficult for me to choose because the selection at this point tends to shift from a plethora of flowers to a majority of shrubs and trees. In my small garden, there are only so many shrubs I can fit.

~Winter Bloomer-- These plants are more likely to provide winter interest than blooms, but the important thing is that they fill a niche. They could provide shelter, protection, or even food for beneficials, structure to the sleeping garden, a windbreak or snowbreak, or even decoration for my Winter Solstice celebration. Just as with the autumn bloomers, the focus here usually shifts to shrubs and trees, limiting the choices for very small gardens like mine. Of course, if you have a greenhouse (I don't), this broadens your selection. This section is often the first to go if I really need to pare the budget down.

So altogether, I have the potential for adding eight new plant varieties to my garden each year. This doesn't usually happen. I often make sure my herb and edible flower choices bloom at different times, enabling me to subtract the budget for spring, summer, or autumn bloomers or add that money to another category. Some years I simply have to make choices about what I want most because, especially with the perennial edibles, one category is maxing out my budget. The point is that I know I can only get ONE variety of plant for each category. If I buy, for example, a packet of borage seeds on sale in September, my edible flowers category is maxed out already. Period. This ensures that I wait until I'm certain about what I want before buying as well as keeping my money where it belongs.

Back to School Thrifting for Clothes

Two dresses, three shirts, and two Wiggles puzzles for good measure. Total: $13.76. Annie was in heaven trying on garment after garment, though it was frustrating for me because there was so very little available in her size. Of course, we only hit the Goodwill store. The Salvation Army store usually has a much wider variety of clothing, so we'll try that one next. Airius is set for this year, and probably the next, because The Husband's aunt passed down all the clothes of her TWO older boys to us. Love that!



The puzzles were only $0.50 a piece for 25-piece puzzles, one Captain Feathersword and one Wags the Dog. That's just enough pieces to keep a preschooler busy but not so many that they get frustrated and give up. And I love the Wiggles, probably more than the kids do. We haven't seen an episode in years, but the kids remember them. I love to see the twins helping each other to put them together, and it sure beats sitting in front of the tv on a rainy day. Anyone who has a boy knows that, at the age of 4, they are much more appreciative of more mechanical, tactile activities like puzzles.



After our trip to Goodwill, we headed home. I dug a bit around the potato plants but felt nothing. Annie was begging me to dig up a carrot for her, even though I knew they weren't ready. The one I pulled up was maybe the size of my thumb, but she chowed it down right there in the garden, dirt and all! Airius asked for one too but wasn't nearly as delighted with his. I ate half of his. Mmmmm...