Snow Ice Cream, Snow Cones

With snow in most of the country I thought I would post these recipes and tips for a fun frugal snow day.
I put some pictures of our place too!

Enjoy! Tawra

Snow Ice Cream

You can see the snow ice cream video here.


Snow Ice Cream

½ cup milk or cream

¼ cup sugar

¼ tsp. vanilla

2 cereal bowls fresh clean snow.

Mix milk, sugar and vanilla together. Stir until vanilla is dissolved.  Add fresh snow and stir gently until it is thoroughly mixed.  Serve immediately. Serves 4.

Genuine Kansas Weather Gnome -

The directions say, “If it’s covered in snow, it’s snowing!”

Snow Cones
Crushed Ice
1 pkg. flavored drink mix (flavor of your choice)

Mix drink mix with half as much water as the directions indicate. Chill 1 hour. Just before serving, crush some ice. You can use either a snow cone maker or put some ice cubes in a plastic bag and pound with hammer. Pack ice chips into cups, pour chilled drink mix over the ice and serve. You can also use fruit juice boiled down to half with food coloring added.

Apple juice: green or red food coloring
Grape juice: purple food coloring

Snow And No Sled? No Problem!

We went sledding this weekend and dad and the kids really had a great time! We used some sleds that we bought last year, but there was a time in the past when the snow caught us off guard and we didn’t have anything to use as a sled.

Here are some ideas for alternatives to sleds that we have used or have seen used in case you find yourself caught without one. Some of them work better when the slopes have a smoother, slightly icy surface.

First a stay dry tip: Slip plastic sacks over the kids feet to keep them dry. Put them on over the socks and the put on their shoes. Tie the handles around their legs.

* Baby pool - We actually saw a family using an old baby pool. The one they were using would not slide well since the snow was soft, but they turned it inside out (turning the smooth side out) and it worked great. Their entire family went down together in it and they had great fun. (Of course, if you have to turn it inside out, it probably won’t hold water anymore so make sure it’s a worn out baby pool!

* Lids to large plastic storage containers

* Laundry basket (BJ’s favorite for a couple of years!)

* Vinyl outdoor cushions - We saw some people using them. They worked well and the foam inside made the bumps a little less severe for the kids.

* Cardboard - larger pieces work best. If the snow is soft, bend the front up a little so it doesn’t get stuck.

* An old tarp - These work best with smooth, almost icy surfaces. They will get bogged down in soft snow and will shred quickly if the ice has become sharp edged.

* An old winter coat with plastic coating (I wouldn’t do this with your best coat!) - My husband said that he and his friends (when they were kids ;-) occasionally slid down on old coats with the shiny, water resistant coating.

* Smooth hubcaps - (Don’t try it with wire wheels! ;-)

* Innertubes - Inflated innertubes work great for sledding! If you have an old innertube that has been punctured, you can cut it open and let the kids sit inside it. Even without air, the rubber still slides well.

* Office chair mat (without the pokey things) - Some mats for office chairs are smooth on one side and don’t have the gripping spikes on the back. If you have one laying around, they make great sleds in a pinch.


If you don’t have a 4-wheeler get out the lawn mower!

Baby Jack’s First Sledding!

Snow Surfing In Kansas. This is how you have fun in the snow with no hills!

From our snow storm 2 weeks ago

Jack’s first time in the snow (with mom not feeling so great :-)

Elly and BJ collecting snow to make igloo bricks. They used a plastic tub to make the snow bricks.

BJ and David working on the igloo

Elly and Mike posing with the final product.

Online Timer

From: rose
this is regarding a post made by someone about
the flylady site… she suggested setting your
egg timer to say 15 mins and see how much can be
cleaned up…
well, i wanted to take that challenge but i dont
have an egg timer … and i dont have a timer on
my stove or my microwave (and if i do, i am not
sure how to set it) …
so, i went online to look and yes i found an
online timer! …
its at www.online-stopwatch.com click on egg
timer and set the timer and yes, it does ding
when its done!….

hehehee :D … i thought i would share this with
everyone! :D

Ok, Now I’ve really seen it all! LOL! This is great! Since I have a clock or two in every room this isn’t a problem for me but it would be great for keeping track of the time the kids spend on the computer! Tawra

Quick Update

I just wanted to let everyone know that we are working on re-designing the website and blog. It will be a few more weeks before it’s done but until then we are going to not be posting as much on the blog.
We are going to have to manually move the thousands of posts on both so we don’t want to add more work by putting on a bunch of posts now.

As for us we are doing ok.  I’ve been really sick the last few months with my fibromyalgia. I’m not sure why but it’s decided to act up pretty bad. Until this week I’ve pretty much been a blob on the couch. I started a  new med called Sevalla  3 weeks ago. It’s just for FM.

At first the side effects were as bad as the FM pain even though it did take care of most of the pain. I lowered the dose down and it seems to be helping. I actually vacumed and carpet cleaned the bedrooms and hope to get the living room done tomorrow! I’ve been a cleaning and organizing machine the last two days I’ve felt good!

It’s amazing! I had totally forgotten what it was like to actually feel good! It’s an amazing feeling!

Jack still isn’t sleeping though the night. He will get up and drink one or two rice bottles.  He is eating solids and has cereal before bed. We even tried Benadryl to help with his allergies to see if that would work but nope, he still gets up!

Other than that he is doing great. He’s 7 months and 23 pounds so he’s huge! Yes, I do have a hard time holding him and can only hold him for a few minutes at a time.

That’s it about us for now. We will let everyone know when the new site it up and running! Tawra

We will still be here and be posting but just not the usual amount I have even done a few of things for next week so hang in there with us. We just might have a couple of hiccups once in awhile. We are really excited about the new updates and are hoping it will be sooo much easier for everyone to move around on the new site.

Jill

High Car Repair Bills

From: Rachel
Hi Tawra and Jill, wanted to share this with you.
We just had to put our car in the shop and have
several repairs done. After paying the bill, my
husband was going over the reciept which listed
the work and the cost. I noticed that they
changed the oil and charged us $34.99. I had just
had the oil changed on Dec. 31st! Please share
with your readers, if you are having work done on
your car, tell them you DO NOT want the oil
changed if you know it does not need it. My
husband was the one who authorized all the work,
so I guess he just didn’t think about it. Hope
this helps someone avoid spending more than they
need to.

Extra Storage

From: Julia
I got this tip from my mother in law.

Use a shoe bag that hangs on a door for all the
items you have no place for in the bathroom. I
also did this in the utility room for cleaning
products and kitchen for odds and ends.There is
one in the front room closet to hold plastic
bags, scarfs,mittens, hats and sunglasses

Am thinking of having one in the garage for odd
and ends items that get lost in the shuffle of
everything else.

Homemade Hand Sanitizer

From: Tracy
I wanted to share how to make Homemade Hand
Sanitizer!! :-)


Make Homemade Hand Sanitizer!

by Barbara Sweet

With new diseases appearing each day, it’s
important to keep your child’s hands clean and
germ free. As a parent, you want to do everything
possible to ensure your child stays healthy,
especially when a contagious virus spreads. With
the most recent outbreaks of the Swine Flu virus,
you may be rushing to the store to stock up on
hand sanitizer. Instead, try this activity where
you’ll make your very own personal sanitizer! It’s
easy enough for your child to help you with, which
means she’ll be more willing to use it and remain
healthy.
What You Need:

* 1/3 cup of aloe Vera gel
* 2/3 cup of 99% rubbing alcohol
* 8-10 drops of essential oil (such as
vanilla, lavender, grapefruit, peppermint, etc.)
* One small mixing bowl and spoon
* Recycled liquid soap bottle
* Funnel

What to Do:

1. Pick out a scented essential oil with your
child. Essential oils can usually be found at
health, beauty product, or aromatherapy stores.
2. Help your child measure out each ingredient
and pour them into the mixing bowl. Hand her a
spoon and invite her to stir carefully.
3. Put the funnel in the opening of the soap
bottle and pour the mixed ingredients into it.
4. Screw the pump back on.

Now you’re ready to battle those germs with your
own fragrant hand sanitizer!

Leftover Taco Meat

From: jennifer
What I do with leftover Taco meat, is I put it in the freezer and over
about a months time I will have accrued enough frozen Taco meat
to make a big pot of 30 minute Chili….Yum!!  My husband loves
this and doesn’t even realize he is eating leftovers…

28 Simple Slow Cooker Suppers

RecipeLion has just posted a new eCookbook. The
downloadable pdf is called 28 Simple Slow Cooker
Suppers and includes beef recipes, pork recipes,
chicken recipes and more. Download 28 Simple Slow Cooker
Suppers E-book
for free here.

Upsate:  Sorry!!! I forgot to check the link. It’s fixed now!! Tawra

24 Simple Scrapbooking Layouts Free E-book

24 Simple Scrapbooking Layouts eBook, you will find 24 great scrapbooking pages and layouts. Included are pages for birthdays and summer memories along with special moments and family memories.

You can find this eBook to download for free here.

Enjoy! Tawra

Wise Stewards of Your Money

“Because we think we have to give our kids everything they want … we are losing everything we have.”

Stephanie (kyleesmom) made this comment recently  on the blog. Boy did she put it all in a nutshell. This is true for the parents too because we think we deserve everything we want…we are losing everything we have.

Be careful God has given most of us a certain amount of money and in some cases children and He wants us to use it wisely for the care of those children.

Jill