The Secret Book Review

I wanted to read a little bit more Amish fiction and since I really like Beverly Lewis, I went straight for her books in the library.  There was one that had the whole series so I grabbed it because I was ready to read.  I wanted to start with the first book in the series The Secret (Seasons of Grace, Book 1) by Beverly Lewis
but I got totally taken off course by lots of books to read and review.  Luckily after a few renewals, I got a chance to read this series.

Grace Byler and her bothers and sisters know that her mother has secrets and her mother weep in the night and takes long walks. Her father still won't talk about and doesn't want to admit that there is a problem because he is a very quiet person who is not prone to talking.  One early morning, her mother leaves a note for Grace and leaves the family home with the help of a driver to the train station.  Grace is reeling and turns her life upside down by breaking up with longtime beau who she was supposed to marry. Left to pick up the pieces of her life, Grace questions all she has been taught about love, family, and commitment and whether she wants any of it. Heather Nelson is an English grad student, stunned by a doctor's diagnosis so she decides to go to Amish country where her mother loved to go. In denial and telling no one she is terminally ill, Heather travels to Lancaster County the last place she and her mother had visited together and the location of the homopathic doctor who is going to help her. Pick up the book and find out what happens in the life of all of these people that are in this small Amish town.

I enjoyed this book but I was sad when it was over.  Until I realized that I had the next book in the series!!  It was a great story and there was a secret that was kept through most of the book that had you wondering what it was going to be.  Even though the process, you were meeting all of the great characters and making it feel like you were part of the family.  There was a lot of feeling that you wanted all of the characters to have their problems resolve quickly and easily.  Life doesn't always go that way and it doesn't for most of the book but you will have to pick it up at your local library or bookstore to find out more details on what happens in this great start to the Seasons of Grace series.  I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did.  Stay tuned for the review of the second book soon!!!

September Reading Review

I had a busy month last month with the end of summer and still got lots of books read.  This month is the beginning of school so I had high hopes for getting lots of books read since I was hoping to have more free time but it just didn't seem like I did have more time.  With my son in school and the to do list mounting, the reading took a back seat to many of the other things that had to get done.  I also took on a bunch of days working at my son's previous preschool which for any of you that deal with kids all day know that is exhausting!!!  I didn't get as much reading done as I thought it but lots of great books this month!

It Had to Be You

by Susan May Warren 

Sweet: Our Best Cupcakes, Cookies, Candy and More
by the  Editors of Food Network Magazine

The First Phone Call From Heaven

by Mitch Albom

All's Fair In Love and Cupcakes

by Betsy St. Amant

Blue Ribbon Baking from a Redneck Kitchen

by Francine Bryson

Joyful

by Shelley Shepard Gray

Hidden in the Stars
by Robin Caroll

Deadly Heat
by Richard Castle

Wild Storm
by Richard Castle

Books Read for 2014

January     8

February    9
March       6
April          6
May          8
June          13
July          10
August       9
September  9

Total Books   78

Kids Wednesday: How to Learn More About Your Kids Day at School

I sent my little man to kindergarten this year and it seems like he has lost the ability to take about his day.  I used to pick him up at preschool and I would get the play by play of everything that happened including snack, work time and what everyone said during the day.  I didn't have to prompt him to get information, I just had to try to stop him long enough to get him out of the car when we got home because he was still talking.  Now either the longer day or coming home on the bus, I am hearing nothing about his day. 

Do you want some solutions to this problem??  Check out this post about great questions!!

I usually use some of the basic questions to get past only hearing about lunch or recess like what is one thing that you learned today or one thing that your teacher taught you. 

My favorites are:

#6.  If I called your teacher tonight what would she tell me about you?

#12.  If an alien spaceship came to your class and beamed up someone who would you want them to take?

I don't know if I would want to know the answers to those but they might lead to some interesting dinner conversations!  Let me know which ones are your favorites and make an effort to ask your kids something a little different and you might get an interesting answer!!!

Homemade Freezer Biscuits

I decided that I wanted to have some yummy biscuits because I bought my favorite raspberry jelly and although I liked my last recipe, I decided to try another one.  It is always good to try a new recipe just in case! You can check out the new recipe here.

I mixed the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl. I used the Kitchen Aid mixing bowl (so that I could do the easy way in the mixer) but you can certainly do it by hand if you wanted.

I cut up the butter in small pieces.  I normally skip this step because I am lazy and I know that if I use a pastry blender it is just a little more work to get the butter mixed up but not too much more.  I just like to follow the recipe the first time trying it and it worked like a charm.

I added the butter to the dry ingredients and mixed them with the electric mixer which incorporated them nicely but you could do it with a pastry blender or forks if you wanted to.  It was so easy and quick with the blender that it made me wonder on a few of my other recipes that I still do by hand!!

I added the milk and got a sticky dough.  It got really sticky and very quickly.  For this recipe, I used coconut milk because I have a cupboard full but anything works.  I feel like the coconut milk might have made this stickier or else I am a bad "measurer."

I put a little flour on the counter top and put the dough on top.  Make sure you flour your hands because you are going to need it or loose half of the dough stuck to your fingers.

I topped the dough with flour and pressed it down until it was the desired thickness.  If you want, you can roll it out but I am all about not having to wash more things then necessary so I don't usually use it for biscuits.

I floured the cookie cutter and cut out the large biscuits but feel free to use whatever size you want.  If you don't have round cutters, use a mason jar or glass which work perfectly.

When they come out, they have risen nice and high and have a perfect crack in the middle so that you slice them right down the middle to have a yummy snack or breakfast.

I put my fluffy biscuit on my plate and was so excited to get to eat it.  Even though it was right before dinner, I wasn't going to wait for them to cool down and reheat one later.

I cut in and buttered the biscuit and topped with my favorite jelly which is the Smucker's Natural Raspberry Jelly.  I splurged at the grocery store and got this on sale for $1.  I can't wait to have lots of biscuits with it.  When I made the biscuits, my husband said..."Oh yeah right, you got your jelly." Like that was the reason that I was making biscuits...okay maybe it totally was but it was worth it.

The even better part is since I am the only one in the family that eats them, I got to make 5 and freeze 6 of them to make later.  It is supposed to be really easy to defrost and cook but I haven't done it yet.  I look forward to trying and I was excited to be able to make a "double" purpose batch to eat and freeze which I look forward to doing again in the future.  I didn't get to the last biscuit before it molded so I was a little bummed that they didn't last any longer.  That is the great news for freezing them because you can make only as many as you need.

The only downfall in this recipe for me is that it uses a lot of butter and baking powder so there are a lot of other recipes out there that might fit a lower budget because they aren't using as much butter.  I actually just used margarine and they were good and at a lower price.  It is a perfect option for those who don't want to use shortening because many biscuits use shortening.  I don't have a problem with using either and like to try out the recipe as is first to see how the original tastes before I make any changes.  I hope that you try these out and see if you like them because I thought that they were light and fluffy.  Make sure you check out the original post and some of the other great recipes that are on the blog at Ten At the Table.

Homemade Freezer Biscuits

Ingredients:

• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup cold butter, cubed
• 1 3/4 cup milk or cream

Instructions:

• Mix dry ingredients together. Add in the butter and mix until crumbly. (If you have one, you can use a KitchenAid or food processor to save time and effort). Add in the milk and mix until a ball forms.
• Roll out onto a floured surface and cut into biscuits.
• Freeze on a cookie sheet for 1-2 hours. Then remove and place in a airtight freezer bag.
• To cook it, pull the desired number of biscuits out and let thaw for 30 minutes to an hour (or move them to the fridge the night before). Bake at 450 degrees for 8-12 minutes.

Menu Plan Monday 10/6

Monday- Chicken and Potatoes with asparagus
Tuesday- Salsa Sloppy Joes with french fries
Wednesday- Philly Cheese Steak Pasta with salad
Thursday- Olive Oil Pasta with garlic bread or peasant bread
Friday- Dinner out for our Anniversary
Saturday- Leftovers/Dinner with family?? no idea what I am making
Sunday- Leftovers/??

I had a heck of a time making it through the week last week because I changed up my entire menu plan mid-week which left a little bit of a hole with what I was making.  The great news is that I did make a few of the meals on the menu and we got through the whole week with dinner every night.  I think that this school schedule is hard because there is something to do at least once a week and I have to try to have a few easy meals because dinner is on the table shortly after everyone gets home and we are all hungry.  I am hoping to get into the groove of this soon but I find that planning now is more of a challenge then it was during the summer.  How do you feel about planning now that the kids are back in school and the days are getting colder??

Wild Storm Book Review

I was excited to read the first book in the Storm series and then find that the second one was already out!!  I reserved Wild Storm: A Derrick Storm Thriller by Richard Castle and it came in quickly.  I have to admit that I was more interested in the Nikki Heat book so I read that first but I was glad to open this one.

At the beginning of the book, there are airplanes dropping from the sky and Derrick is on one of them!!  Derrick talks to the pilot and ends up getting out on the wing to use some heavy duty tape to tape the plane back together.  It works and Derrick's plane lands safely but all of the other planes crash.  With many people dead, Derrick has to go immediately to work to find the people responsible for this tragic act of violence.  He goes to the crash site of one of the planes and sees a piece of the plane that has been sliced just like his plane was.  He decides to look for anyone who could be missing and making the laser powerful enough to do this damage.  He finds a scientist that retired that he thinks might be the missing link after doing a lot of research with his father.  He goes on the hunt to find out what is going on and gets himself into lots of trouble.  Pick up the book and find out what happens!!!

I enjoyed the book and can't wait for the next one in the series.  I know that I will enjoy it even more now that I have gotten so into the characters that are forming.  The characters are so interesting and the events into are unexpected.  Derrick Storm is a dreamy main character that makes you fall in love with him even though he is a horrible playboy that you would overlook for him!  I love to find out what happens next and you will too.  I hope that you pick this up at your local library or bookstore.  I think whether you like mysteries or not, you will like this book.  I super enjoyed the escape from reality in this book and I hope you do to!!!

End of the September! What?!

Okay, I feel like I was a little prepared for this but then it still came up unexpectedly.  It is already the beginning of October so I wanted to let you know what I got this month at the stores for my monthly budget of $160 for our family of three.  I think that you will be impressed with all of the stuff I got and the totals are at the bottom!!

Giant $1.67 (rest paid with gift card)

Giant $11.19

Aldi's $36.95

 

Harris Teeter $16.21

There was an interesting deal where you bought some of the items included on a very specific list and you got $1.50 off ground beef.  I used that to buy the expensive ground beef that was on sale and the smallest packages were around $3.80-$4 so I got them for way cheaper with the deal and I could get most of the things in the deal for free or money makers so that I got get a bunch of deals.  I also used a rain check to get all of the yogurt super cheap because it was the last day of the $0.75/2 coupon that I had and I also had the $0.35 coupons.  My son only likes one kind in his lunch and I decided to stock up since they go straight in the freezer.  The most expensive thing in the picture was the darn toilet paper but we were out so it had to be done.  Still looking for the deals of past of toilet paper and they just aren't there!!!

Harris Teeter $3.00

Excited to get the great deal to use the overage to pay for most of the stuff and paid less than the price of the package of ground beef (after getting the money back at customer service for the evic zvr that didn't come off).

Wegmans $7.22

Harris Teeter $43.88

This obviously was more than just this because you look at this picture and think how did it cost her that much!!  I bought a $50 Harris Teeter Gift card to use on future purchases with all of the deals on the other food and the $10 off $50 so that I could use the great coupon and still get a few bargains.  It was actually all of the food for free and the paying less than $50 for the gift card worth $50 so I was super excited.  I didn't get an evic zvr off so I had to go to customer service to get the money back for that but it was a great deal and I got to splurge and buy the jelly that I love (on sale and a coupon but I paid $1 for it)!!

Harris Teeter $0 

(spent $31.99 on gift card and got back $7.18 cash back)   

 This trip was by far the most impressive.  I did do two check outs because I thought that I had everything and while I was waiting at customer service to get money back, I realized that I needed to get a few more things that I couldn't pass up because I wouldn't be able to come back and shop another day.  I got 6 cranberry juice and 6 boxes of Cheese Its using rain checks.  I picked up Gallon of Milk, 4 cartons of 18 eggs, 2 packages of 6 Ramen Noodles, 3 Chicken Noodle Soup, 2 Cream of Chicken Soup, 1 Cheddar Cheese soup, Jiffy Corn bread (money back from saving star), 2 bags of sugar, and 3 bags of 2 lb rice. The things that I got for free or that were money makers were 6 packages of Mahatma Rice, 2 Pantene Mousse, 5 Gillette Razors, Glade Plug-in, Just for Men Hair Color, Toaster Strudel.  This was an amazing haul for under $25 (after I got the cash back) and a retail value of over $132

What do you think of my month?  I was pretty happy with what I got and how well it went staying under budget.  There were a lot of deals to be had and I stocked up with lots of ground beef and chicken which we quickly eaten or cooked and prepared to be eaten in the freezer.  We also needed tissues so I was super glad to get a bunch of them for free to add to the cupboard since our sickness went through all of our stockpile.  I also had some money makers with $5.25 already credited on my Saving Star account and some more on Ibotta and Checkout 51.

Total Retail $415.74

Total Savings $302.80

Total OOP $112.94

I still have a $10 Gift Card for Giant and then $18 left on my card for Harris Teeter to use in October (hoping to have another $10 Giant gift card coming in soon).  I am hoping to spend those wisely with some $5 off $15 coupons that I have to get the most for the money with sales, coupons and deals.  I can't wait to see what great deals I can get in the new month. Here is hoping that I get my act together and start selling some stuff on eBay!!  Are you ready for the fall weather and fall shopping deals??