Christmas Giving

                Just want to say Merry Christmas from the family of Suzie Homemaker. What did you do this year for Christmas? Did you travel, stay at home with the family or just visit the in-laws? Did you go to some stores and donate money into a kettle of the people ringing bells? This year our family did something different, we decided to donate to an actual cause in our local community and the world. Just because this blog is about saving money does not mean we do not give back to people in need. So this Christmas I want to ask you what you did to give back to your community? Did you help out at a soup kitchen and help serve meals or did you just give some needy family a Christmas gift? Whatever you do is a choice to be made by you and your family. I want to tell you how we helped a local organization that can really use some help not just at Christmas but all year round.

                This year we gave to two causes, the first being Special Olympics. We found this organization to be so inspiring that we had a group effort with this cause. We raised $2500 dollars for Special Olympics. These kids deserve to compete in these games and be rewarded for their efforts. Just the look on their faces when they get their medals is reward enough for our group. My husband gave his time to council several people and all the proceeds went straight to Special Olympics. They sent us several pictures of the kids competing and with their medals.

                The second cause we gave to personally was a local organization called Reach Counseling. I advise everybody to look this organization up and look at all the things they offer. This company helps people who have been abused. They also help the offenders get their lives back on track after they get out of jail. We were told the money we donated helped a single mother of two buy a Christmas tree, some presents, and a Christmas dinner. The rest of the money will be given in gas cards and for groceries. My husband is also going to give his time to help start a class for people who have money issues because of all these problems. After tax season (my Husband is a tax professional) he will help people get back on their feet after abuse.

                Christmas is not just about getting presents, why not show your children and grandchildren how to give back to their community. This is a lesson every child should learn from little on through adulthood. This Christmas was special because we saw how we could help so many different people by giving of our time and a little money. Merry Christmas from the Family of Suzie Homemaker.

Homemade Snow Globe

                Christmas is almost here and the children and grandchildren will be home on Christmas break, what can I do with them to keep them busy and happy? I have another fun project to do with the over the Christmas break. Again most of these things you will need you probably have right at home or can pick up at a local dollar store very cheap. Kids like to do art projects and moms and dads want to keep it affordable. Today I want to show you how to make an easy snow globe.

What You Will Need

               

Any Glass Jar with a screw on top                                     Any Christmas or any decorations you like

                Super Glue                                                                             Glitter

                Water

1.       First, take your glass jar with the cover facing the top

.

2.       .Take your decorations and glue them into the bottom of your jar.

3.       Let dry for a long time so it will stick really well. Always make sure you don’t get any super glue on your fingers. I advise parents to do the gluing part for the young children

.

4.       Pour in some glitter into your jars.

5.       Fill your jar with water. You can super glue the lid if you like or just screw on tight. I like to leave unglued so if I want to add more glitter or water I can.

6.       Shake and watch the glitter swirl around in the jar. Now you have a little snow globe you made yourself.

Your children and grandchildren will love this project. This project is cheap and easy to make. Let your children and grandchildren be creative and have some fun this Christmas break. Christmas is a time to spend with your children and grandchildren having fun and enjoying the Holidays. Have fun making this snow globe from Suzie Homemaker.

Homemade Christmas Bells

                Christmas is only a few weeks away, are you ready? How many of you parents and grandparents have children who get bored easily? I have a fun little project that will keep them busy for a while and you should have most of the things right in your home. How many of you keep all your measuring cups from your cough syrup bottles, Nyquil bottles, or prescription bottles? I have over 30 measuring cups in my junk drawers. So today I have a fun little project the kids and grandchildren can make right at home with a few scraps you probably have at home. Today we will make Christmas Bells from all those measuring cups.

What you will Need

                Measuring cups                                                    Glue

                Yarn                                                                       Beads

                Bells                                                                       Little Ornaments

                Paint                                                                       Scissors

                Paper Clips

1.  Gather up all your measuring cups in all sizes and colors.

2. Paint your cups any color you like. Let dry.

3.       Glue on any decorations you like. Maybe some ribbon, beads, balls, stickers or anything you can think of.

4.       If you have bells or small ornaments use a paperclip and place it up through the holes that you cut in the top of your cups. I used scissors to make two slits. Unbend the paperclip and fish it through your slits and then hang your bell or ornament on it inside of your cup.

5.       You can make as many bells as you like in many different colors, sizes, and decorations. Let your children and grandchildren be creative and have fun.

6.    

   Once you have all the bells done fish a piece of yarn through the top of the bells where you have your slits.

7.   

    Now you can have a nice long line of bells you can hang up anywhere.

Your children and grandchildren will have a ball doing this project. Let them decorate these bells anyway they like. Most of these things you should have right at home, but if you don’t just go to your local dollar store to pick up what you may need. This is one way to use up all those leftover measuring cups instead of just throwing them away. This would be a fun project to do with your kids and grandchildren this weekend. Be creative and have some family time together from Suzie Homemaker.

Christmas Decorating

                December is here and it is time to start thinking about Christmas. It’s time to start decorating the house with all the Christmas decorations. How many of you go all out and really decorate the whole house with lights, garlin, and ornaments? Whatever you do big or small for decorating your house, just remember it all takes time. I have a fun idea for decorating this year for you.

                Most years at Christmas time I would just put up the decorations while the kids were in school and let them help decorate the tree on the weekend when they were home from school. I would always get grumbles about where I put some of the decorations and the lights were not right or where they wanted them.

A New Christmas Tradition

                My two girls love Christmas so we decided several years ago to let them decorate the house. Every year the house looks different but the girls put there own little touches on it to make it look nice. Why not let your children or grandchildren decorate your house. This gives them a sense of pride that they did it themselves. If you have younger children help them with the decorating but let them decide where to put everything.

                Since my oldest is now in college my youngest did all the decorating herself this year. Yes, things may not be the way you want but just look at the pride on their faces when they can say they decorated the whole house for Christmas themselves.

               

Needless to say, I have a lot of extension cords everywhere and a lot of lights up.

It was so much fun watching her put everything up and the way her face lit up when we stepped back and lit everything up. My husband and I took great pride in watching here do this herself. Yes, things may not be where you would have put things but who cares as long as it is up and looks halfway decent it does not matter.

                Christmas is about being together as a family, not about worrying about this decoration not being in the right place. Just watching her be so determined to want to do it herself was all we needed. If you decorate the house together as a family why not let your children or grandchildren take the lead and decide where everything should go. This gives them responsibility and your trust. Enjoy the Christmas holiday as a family and start your own traditions from Suzie Homemaker

Thanksgiving Leftover Recipes

I hope everybody had a very happy Thanksgiving Day! I ended up serving 15 people for lunch. Now I have a bunch of leftovers to deal with. Some of them I will freeze in meal size containers and some I just make different dishes with them. If you are like most people who serve Thanksgiving dinner you will have a lot of leftovers. Today I want to give you some ideas and recipes for some of those leftovers.

                 The first leftover most people have a little left of is Sweet potatoes. If you make plane sweet potatoes this recipe is really good.

Sweet Potato Casserole

               

3 cups mashed sweet potatoes                                        1 cup sugar

                ½ teaspoon salt                                                                2 eggs

                ½ stick melted butter                                                        ½ cup milk

                1 teaspoon vanilla

Topping

                1 cup brown sugar                                                             1 cup chopped walnuts (or any other nuts

                1/3 stick butter                                                                   1/3 cup flour

                Mix together sweet potatoes, salt, butter, vanilla, sugar, eggs, and milk until well blended. Pour into a greased 13X9 inch baking dish, set aside. In a large bowl combine brown sugar, butter, nuts, and flour until well blended. Sprinkle over top of sweet potato mixture and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

                We had this dish for Thanksgiving dinner for the first time this year and everybody loved it so much that we only had a small dish left. This will be our new sweet potato dish from now on for Thanksgiving dinner.

                This next dish I like to make it with my leftover turkey. I really don/t have an actual recipe for this one but I can give you the ingredients I use and you can mix and match it with what you like.

Turkey-Potato Hash

                1 to 2 cups ground or chopped up Turkey                        1 to 2 cups mashed potatoes

                ¼ to ½ chopped onions                                                     1 egg scrambles

                ¼ to ½ cup turkey gravy                                                    salt and pepper to taste

                1 tablespoon minced garlic

                Take all ingredients and mix well in a large bowl. With a big spoon scoop out a big amount of hash and make it into patties. With a little butter or olive oil put it into a frying pan so your patties will not stick. Flatten them out so they are thin patties. Fry them on both sides until golden brown and crispy. This is a great way to use up some of your leftover turkey and potatoes. I make up several patties and place them on waxed paper and freeze them to be used at a later date and time. They keep very well in the freezer in a plastic freezer bag or containers. Now you can have a quick meal anytime.

                Thanksgiving comes once a year and is just the beginning of the holiday season. There are so many different things you can make with the Thanksgiving leftover, so I hope you like my two dishes. I hope everybody had a wonderful Thanksgiving from Suzie homemaker.

                l

Thanksgiving Yum Yums

                This week is Thanksgiving and I want to say Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers. Thanksgiving is a time for family and friends. Enjoy the day with good food and good conversation. Thanksgiving is my holiday for which I will have 15 people to entertain and feed. This last week I went shopping for all the food I will need. I went to Aldi’s for all my small items like pickles, olives, carrots, and buns. This store is a must to save money on all your little items you will need. I went to my local grocery store (Piggly Wiggly) and I bought my turkey. This year they did not have a minimum spend limit so I bought my turkey for 49 cents a pound. We ended up buying 3 extra turkey ‘s right away to stock the freezer. This is the time of year do buy turkey very cheap.

                My family is very kind and offers to help with the preparation. My sister-in-law makes the cranberry sauce I gave you the recipe for last week and also makes a delicious sweet potato dish which I will give you the recipe for soon. My mother-in-law makes all the pies for me. So all I have to make is the meat and potatoes and a few side dishes. I make the turkey and ham up a couple of days before and just have to warm them up in my Nesco roasters for Thanksgiving. This saves me a lot of time and makes my day easier and less stressful. I want to enjoy the day also and be able to sit down and enjoy Thanksgiving too.

                My youngest daughter had to make a dessert for school for this week and she wanted to try it out on us this last weekend. We all loved it and decided this would make a great afternoon snack after pies for Thanksgiving while everybody watched the football game. So today I want to give you the recipe she found online for triple chocolate, double mint cookies.

Peppermint Triple Chocolate Cookies

               

1 Cup All Purpose Flour                                      ¾ Cup Brown Sugar

                2/3 Cup Cocoa Powder                                       ¼ Cup Sugar

                2 teaspoons Cornstarch                                     1 Large Egg

                ¾ teaspoon Baking Soda                                    1 teaspoon Peppermint Extract

                ¼ teaspoon Salt                                                   1 ½ teaspoons Vanilla

                10 Tablespoons Softened Butter                      ¾ Cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips

Chocolate Peppermint Topping

                6 oz. Semisweet Chocolate Chips

                ½ teaspoon Vegetable Oil

                2 Candy Canes crushed

1.     

  In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking soda and salt until evenly combined. Set aside.

2.     

  In a separate large bowl using a stand or hand mixer beat the butter until well softened. With the mixer on medium speed add sugar and beat until no lumps remain. Then add your egg, vanilla and peppermint extract and beat until well combined.

3.      

Turn mixer to your lowest speed and pour in your flour mixture a little at a time. The flour mixture will tend to fly up if you have the speed to high.

4.       Once your dry mixture is evenly mixed in, beat in the chocolate chips on low speed. The mixture will be thick and sticky.

5.     

  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for two hours.

6.     

  Once you are ready to bake, take the bowl out of the refrigerator and let warm up for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

7.       Using a cookie scoop form dough into balls 1.5 Tablespoons in size. Roll each into a ball between your hands, flatten slightly and place 2 inches apart. You should end up with 22-24 cookies.

8.      

Bake for 7 to 9 minutes. Cool on cookie sheet for 10 minutes before placing them on your cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting.

9.     

  Frosting for cookies. In a small microwavable bowl put your 6oz. of chocolate chips and oil. In 30 second burst, melt your chocolate until melted. Usually takes about 1 minute 30 seconds depending on your microwave oven.

10  

With a knife or spatula frost your cookies.

.

11.   In a plastic bag crush your candy canes. I used a bottom of a metal cup to crush my candy canes.

Sprinkle the candy cane pieces onto your frosted cookies.

Needless to say, these cookies didn’t make it a day in our house. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy my daughters delicious triple chocolate double mint cookies as a treat. Happy Thanksgiving to all my kind reader from Suzie Homemaker.

Thanksgiving Cranberry Recipe

                Thanksgiving is almost here and it is time to start planning the Holiday dinner. So today I thought I would give you a different recipe to try. How many of you are tired of the same old cranberries from a can for Thanksgiving. My sister-in-law gave me this recipe a couple years back and it has become our favorite side dish for Thanksgiving. This recipe can be made up the night before and kept in the refrigerator until Thanksgiving Day.

Cranberry Sauce

                1 bag of frozen cranberries                                               Small can of crushed Pineapple

                ½ apple cut up in small pieces not peeled                      ½ orange chopped up

                ½ to 1 cup of sugar to taste

1.       First, take your frozen cranberries and place them in a big bowl. Keeping them frozen is easier and less messy.

2.       Mix in the apples, oranges , and pineapple with your cranberries. Drain the juice from the pineapples. Do not use the pineapple juice in the sauce.

3.       Add sugar to taste. Depending on how sweet you want the cranberry sauce determines the amount of sugar needed.

4.       Using a food grinder, food processor or blender, grind everything together.

5.       Place the ground up cranberry sauce into a bowl and refrigerate overnight.

6.       On Thanksgiving Day place in little bowls and serve.

This cranberry recipe is sweet and delicious, different than your usual cranberry sauce from a can. I never liked cranberries from a can, but this recipe changed my mind. My girls even like this recipe and they are picky eaters. This recipe will serve 6 to 8 people. I hope you like a different take on your cranberry sauce this year from Suzie Homemaker.

Financial Freedom

                This week I would like to tell you about a Blog you should check out. This Blog will help you be financially better off and how to save for your retirement. In this Blog, you will find ways to live a frugal lifestyle and be able to retire earlier. Since I like to talk about ways to save money, this Blog will also give you tips on how to save money. The Blog I am talking about is called The Wealthy Accountant. You can find this Blog at www.wealthyaccountant.com. He always says he is spilling the beans to help people have a better life and retire early with enough money.

              

  Last week my husband and I spent 8 days in Dallas Texas attending a financial blogging seminar and awards ceremony. This conference was called Fincon. There were over 1700 hundred people in attendance.  All the top bloggers were there to help the new people and the ones that have been blogging for years. This was a busy and exhausting 4-day seminar.  We learned a lot from many different bloggers while we were there.

                We were there mainly for my husband since he is the Wealthy Accountant. I help him edit his blog posts 3 days a week. My husband has been writing the Wealthy Accountant Blog for almost 2 years now. He was nominated for 2 Plutus awards. The first one was for the best financial blog of the year, and the second one was for the best new blog of the year. We had a lot of problems getting to classes because everybody was stopping and asking him questions all the time. We both learned a lot at Fincon. Next Year Fincon will be in Florida.

             ^th Annual Plutus Awards Ceremony. As I said my husband was up for the top 2 awards of the night. There were over 20 different Blogs and Podcast up for awards that night also. Saturday night my husband won the Plutus award for Best Financial Blog of the Year. This was such a great honor for both of us, I had to tell my readers about it and ask you to check his blog out.

   On Saturday, October 28 they had the 8

                Our two girls were so excited and happy when they heard he had won the Plutus Award for Best Financial Blog of the Year. Their next question was how many Tee shirts are we bring home for them. We brought home 15 Tee shirts, bags, coffee mugs and more. I am so proud of my husband because he has been working very hard to give his readers advice and to help them achieve financial freedom. I hope you enjoy my husband’s Wealthy Accountant Blog from Suzie Homemaker.

Halloween Games

                Last week I told you about Trunk or Treating, I hope you liked my churches idea for a fun Halloween party. Now you have to have some fun games to play with the children to keep them entertained and happy. Here are some of the games that we do each year and the children love them.

Halloween Games

1.       Take a container with water in it and drop your apples in. Place a drop cloth underneath for any spills. Always have a towel handy for the kids to wipe their faces off. Dunking for apples is a classic Halloween game and the children love it.

2.   

    Pumpkin Bowling. Taking some pins line them up, or use some empty cans and stack them or line them up. Using a small pumpkin as your bowling ball roll it toward your target. Since most pumpkins are not smooth this makes it funny to watch them bowl. The kids have a ball and laugh really hard.

3.       Pin the face on the pumpkin.

With a big piece of paper draw several pumpkins on the paper in different sizes.

Blindfold the kids and have them stick pieces of pumpkin faces onto the pumpkins. Give a prize to the kids who come closest to making a face on any of the pumpkins on the paper.

We put tape on the back of foam pieces instead of pins so nobody could get hurt.

4.     

  Make pumpkin cookies. Have frosting ready and let the kids decorate their own cookies. Have sprinkles and cookie decorations available so they can decorate their cookie however they want.

5.       Have a Halloween Parade. Separate the kids according to costumes. Ghosts, princesses, or any other character they are dresses up as. Have them parade in front of the parents and pick the best of each category. The children love to show off their costumes.

This is just a few of the games that we use at our Trunk or Treating Party at our church. The children love these games and they have a ball. There are so many things you can do at Halloween besides going door to door Trick or Treating. This a safe way for kids to have fun and not worry about the candy. Have a safe Halloween.

Trunk or Treating

             

  How many times have you wished you could feel safe sending your children and grandchildren out to go Trick or Treating and not have to worry about the candy they receive. There are still people out there who still put things in the candy intending on hurting someone; this is sad and disturbing.  Even when I was younger my parents would always check our candy and throw out anything that wasn’t wrapped or just did not look right. Halloween is supposed to be a fun time of year for the children. I like the way the police patrol the streets and how some of the hospitals even scan the candy for free. This helps out a lot, but wouldn’t you like to see some different ways for your children and grandchildren to have some fun on Halloween and still get some candy that is safe to eat. Today I want to show you how my church puts on a great Halloween party for the kids.

Trunk or Treating

               

For the last 4 years, our church has put on a Halloween Trunk or Treat party. Several families park their cars in the church parking lot with their trucks facing the children. The children go from trunk to trunk and get candy and prizes. Each year we have more cars that line up and park in the church parking lot. Last year we had 30 cars that participated in the Trunk or Treating party. The kids and adults come dressed in their costumes and meet people from the church. This is a safe way for your children and grandchildren to receive gifts and candy and have a fun time.

                After the children are done Trunk or Treating they head into the church for a pizza or sub sandwich party. Inside they have more homemade Halloween snacks. The whole church is decorated with Halloween decorations. After the meal, they have a magician or a man who does balloon art come in to entertain them for a couple of hours.  The children and adults have a ball.

                This is a safe way for your children and grandchildren to go Trick or Treating. Check with your church to see if they would let you start your own Trunk or Treating Party. Have your young people or youth group do this as a fun project to help get them involved. This has been a great success in our church and the parents love it and want to help make it a fun time for there kids. Enjoy Trunk or Treating from Suzie Homemaker.

Halloween Costumes

               

Happy Halloween! Do you have your costume yet? Do you go all out and spend a fortune on a costume? Most people only use their costumes one year and discard them afterward. I say their loss my gain. I think you know where I am going with this. I hate throwing things away and wasting money. Adult costumes can cost anywhere from $25 dollars to over $100 dollars. That is nuts. Kid’s costumes can cost about the same. Here are some easy cost-effective ideas to save on costumes.

                Start an exchange at your school. Have everybody bring in their old costumes. Line everything up according to size and separate the girl’s costumes from the boy’s costumes. Pick a day when the parents and kids can come and look for a new but slightly used costume to use for Halloween after you are done return it to the school so someone else can use it next year. Now you can have a nice costume each year for free.

                If you know how to sew and have a sewing machine, why not make your own costume for a lot less than a store-bought one. It is amazing what you can find around the house or from a neighbor or friend to borrow from. Now you can create your own costume and be unique. You do not have the same costume as everybody else. Get creative and just have some fun.

                Go to your local Good Will Store or a thrift shop and pick up a costume for a lot less. No one will ever know where you got it from and who cares. I am not trying to impress someone by spending a fortune on a costume. Don’t get suckered into having to buy the latest superhero costume. The kids maybe wear them for part of the day at school then outside for Trick or Treating. I never had a brand new costume when I was growing up, my mother always made our costumes or we borrowed one from a friend or neighbor. I didn’t care if I had an expensive costume to wear.

                You do not have to have an expensive costume to have fun at Halloween. Be creative and make something yourself or borrow a costume. It makes no difference as long as you having fun in the process. Think before you spend a fortune on a costume form Suzie Homemaker.

Healthy Halloween Snacks Part II

Welcome back to another Halloween Treat Day. I hope everyone enjoyed my healthy treat last week. This week I would like to add another healthy Halloween treat that your children and grandchildren will enjoy eating and making. This time of year is so much fun for everybody, so let’s make some more healthy treats.

What you will need

Mushrooms (whole any size)                                          Cheese slices (Kraft is what I used)

 Food coloring                                                                    Cheese sliced thin (Cheddar or Colby)

Crackers that are round or oval (Ritz or Town House crackers or any generic found cracker)

Cheese spread                                                                     Knife

Mushroom Halloween Treats

1.       First, take your mushrooms and wash and dry them.

2.     

  Next draw a face on your mushroom, with the tip of your knife dip it into the food coloring and draw a face on your mushroom. Now you have a little mushroom pumpkin.

3.     

  If you do not want a whole mushroom take the mushroom and slice it so it looks like little this thin pumpkin slices. Again dip the tip of your knife into the food coloring and make a face on your mushroom slices to look like a pumpkin.

4.       To make it extra fancy put some cheese spread on a cracker and then put one of your sliced mushrooms with a face painted on them on top of your cracker. Now you have a little pumpkin –mushroom on your cracker.

Cheese Halloween Treats

1.       Take a cheese slice like Kraft singles and cut out a shape of a pumpkin.

2.       With the tip of a knife draw a face on with your food coloring.

3.       If you do not have any cheese slices just cut a thin slice of Colby or Cheddar cheese and repeat the same process as in example number One.

4.    

   To make these extra fancy try placing one of your mushroom slices that look like a pumpkin on top of your cheese or cheese slices.

Let your children and grandchildren be creative and make their own designs and faces. Mix and match these Halloween pumpkins with cheese or crackers to make a fun and healthy Halloween snack. This would be a fun treat for the kids to take to school or a nice treat for the office. These Halloween snacks are very inexpensive to make. Let’s get creative without breaking the bank and have fun in the process from Suzie Homemaker.