Potluck from the Pantry

My church typically has "finger foods" after special services on Sunday nights. This past week was one of those times. I usually try to take two dishes. I had an abundance of little smokies in the freezer from a sale. I also had cheese. I picked up two types of olives and made a large tray of snacks with a smokie, cheese cube, and olive on a toothpick.

I needed a sweet snack. I had all of the ingredients for making cinnamon rolls. I ended up doing two pans for a total of 36. I expected to have plenty leftover for my DH to take to work the next day. They were very popular and none were leftover. I was surprised that everyone was so taken with them. This is a fairly basic recipe with basic ingredients. I suppose no one makes homemade cinnamon rolls any more.

I ended up with two dishes made mainly with on-hand ingredients. I did buy the olives for around $2.50. However, I have olives leftover to go into salads, on pizza, or just for snacks. Party foods do not have to be fancy or expensive. A little creativity can go a long way!

Snow!

Snow is a rarity here in the deep south. We see a few flakes from time to time. However on Friday the 12th a few flakes turned into a bunch of flakes that actually stuck. It snowed much of the afternoon and early part of the night. We ended up with just over an inch. Saturday morning the cats were not sure what to think of the white ground. Paris decided after seeing me walk on it that she could safely go out in it too. She had a blast in the snow.

Older sister Lucy was not so happy. She followed in my footsteps before making a mad dash to the table on the deck. She promptly found the un-iced portion and walked in circles. After Paris scared her she ran at full speed back into the house.

Sago palms and snow do not normally appear in the same picture.

The deck Friday night and Saturday morning

Routines

I find that things go more smoothly in my house if I stick to a routine. Being a housewife it is easy to say that I have plenty of time so why be in a rush to do anything. The problem is that I find it all too simple to do fun things and skip the boring household chores. My solution is to stick to a routine and treat my being a housewife as a job.

My morning routine is:
~Make bed
~Swish & swipe the bathroom
~Feed & water pets
~Clean litter box
~Make tea
I also get out of my PJs and get dressed including hair and makeup. It makes me feel more put together for unexpected visitors.

The afternoon consists of deep cleaning in a different room each day. I do one to two loads of laundry. If it is raining I do more loads on the sunny days. I also do Flylady's zone mission and exercise.

My evening routine helps me wrap up the day and prepare for the next. Each day I:
~Sweep & steam floor (sometimes just sweep)
~Feed & water pets again
~Pick out clothes for the next day
~Take out any foods for following day's meal
~Take out trash
~Clean up kitchen (I hate waking up to a dirty kitchen.)

Of course I have plenty of other chores to do throughout the day. This list keeps me on track. I still have plenty of time to play and relax. My routines definitely help me keep the house in order.

Your Chance to Win

Kikkoman is currently hosting a Chinese New Year instant win game. The Kikkoman Chinese New Year Celebration game has many prizes, which means you have a 1 in 5 chance of winning. These are among my favorite type of instant win games to enter. The prizes include silicon basting brush, spoon rest, stainless steel tongs, cookbooks, and coupons. Good luck and please let me know if you win!

January Sweepstakes Wins

One of my hobbies is entering instant win games and sweepstakes online. I could spend all day entering if I had the time. Instead I pick easy to enter contests or those with prizes I would love to win. My first win for January was a free product coupon from a Pace instant win game. Last week I received this Taylor Swift CD from Entertainment Weekly. EW has subscriber only contests that can be entered with one click. This win was a complete surprise. If you are interested in entering sweepstakes, I highly recommend Sweepstakes Today. You can create a "Lucky List" to make entering your favorite sweepstakes easier. These are legitimate contests, and you really will receive your prizes.

Small Splurge

I saw this wonderful wire pedestal in a magazine a few months back. While going through my tear files, I decided to do a search and see how much it cost. I was happy to find that it was on sale for 50% off. When I added in shipping it would cost $16. I did not order it immediately. The more I thought about it, the more I knew I wanted it. I believe there is no point in being frugal if I never have any fun. I had some money saved, and I knew I wanted this. When it arrived, I was certain I made a good purchase. Currently it is holding fruit on the island in the kitchen, but I do plan to use it for cakes too. A bonus is that having the fruit displayed like this seems to be helping us eat more of it. This stand did have bananas which were quickly eaten.

Here is a better picture of the pedestal on the Crate and Barrel website.

Great Shopping Trip

Sunday after church I made a quick trip to CVS. I had been holding on to some Coca-Cola coupons and was waiting for a great sale. Those coupons combined with a $5 off $30 coupon from CVS helped me get a wonderful deal. I ended up with five 12-packs of Coca-Cola, two 12-packs of Sprite, two boxes of Corn Flakes and a bottle of Dove men's body wash for only $4.26 out of pocket!! We are not big soda drinkers so I picked packs that are good until October. These will last us through the summer at least.

Korker Hair Bows

While browsing the Internet a few weeks, I came across korker hair bows. They looked adorable so I searched for a tutorial. When I read that the ribbon was baked in the oven, I was really intrigued. Unusual crafting techniques amuse me. I ordered some supplies online and immediately got started baking some ribbon. I love how it kept the corkscrew shape.

I made three sizes pictured: infant (pink, green, & white), toddler (purple, black & white), and child (shown below). It took a few minutes to figure out the best way for me to assemble them. After that they came together quickly.

These will make cute gifts and can easily be tailored to specific holidays by varying the ribbon. I am also planning to do some for my Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes this year.