Yummy Side Dishes! - November 20, 2008

Good morning!

I wanted to let you know that we have some wonderful recipe e-books on sale, 10 e-books for $10 for this week's Sale of the Week. There are tons of great recipes for Thanksgiving and Christmas, so be sure that you don't miss it! Go get it here!

Also, on the blog we are posting our favorite Thanksgiving recipes. If you have wondered how to cook a turkey that isn't dry as a bone, be sure and check out our Roast Turkey recipe. Also, there is a typo in the Roast Turkey recipe in Dining on A Dime so be sure to check the blog for a correction.

Do you need grocery lists or menu planning forms to help you organize? Our friend Sheri Graham at Graham Family Ministries offers free Kitchen Planning Forms, including 8 different styles of Grocery Lists, To Do Lists, Recipe Cards, and Weekly Menu Plan Forms. Download them free here!

One more thing: I need some help with a present. My daughter wants the Rainbow Magic Books by Daisy Meadows. She wants the ENTIRE set. If you are getting rid of the set and want to sell it for cheap or trade for some books, let me know and I would be happy to do some bargaining with you! :-)

Have a great rest of the week!

-Tawra
www.LivingOnADime.com

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I can't imagine Thanksgiving without our traditional meal of turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and cranberry sauce, but to keep it traditional and still have something new and different, you might try some side dish recipes that are new twists on old favorites.

Today's newsletter includes a few recipes that might fit that bill, plus some helpful tips for preparing your holiday meal and other meals throughout the year!

Today's Tips:

• If you like cheese with your apple pie, mix 1 cup of grated cheddar cheese into your pie crust and then layer the apple filling with another cup of grated cheese.
  


• If your pies are too runny, add 1 Tbsp. of tapioca to your filling.
  


• To keep your holiday salads crisper, turn a small sauce plate upside down in your salad bowl before you fill it. All the liquid and water will run down under the sauce plate and away from the salad.
  


• When cooking cauliflower, add 1-2 tsp. of lemon juice or vinegar to the water. It will help keep it whiter.
  

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Sale Of The Week!
Collection of 10 Holiday Recipe e-Books for $10.00!

With 1,200 delicious recipes and lots of tips for holiday fun and games, this e-book package is sure to add some cheer to your holiday season!

Some of the e-books included are:

• All Time Favorite Christmas Cookies
  
• Holiday Candy & Fudge
  
• Cheesecake Recipes
  
• A Homemade Christmas
  
• And Lots More!
  

Get them now through Monday only! Learn More Here!

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Today's Recipes:

This first recipe is a great one to make in a regular skillet or, even better, in an electric one (because it will help free up stove space when making Thanksgiving dinner).

Cinnamon Candy Sweet Potatoes

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
3/4 cup red cinnamon candies (red hots)
1/2 cup (stick) margarine
3-4 sweet potatoes (enough to cover the bottom of large skillet)

In a large skillet, heat first 4 ingredients to boiling. Peel and slice sweet potatoes into pieces about 1 1/2 inch thick. Place sweet potato slices in a single layer in the syrup. Cover and cook slowly over medium heat until potatoes are done and syrup is thick (about 1 hour). Baste a few times with syrup while cooking.

Apple/Sweet Potato Dish

5-6 medium cooking apples*, peeled and thinly sliced
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled, halved and
thinly sliced
1 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp. each, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 Tbsp. margarine or butter, melted

Grease a 2 1/2 qt shallow baking dish and combine the apples and potatoes in it. Mix the rest of the ingredients and sprinkle on top. Cover and bake at 350° for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake 15-20 minutes longer, until apples and potatoes are tender.

*Baking apples include Granny Smith, McIntosh and Rome. I like to keep apples like Gala, Jonathan and Golden Delicious on hand because you can eat them or bake with them. Red Delicious are usually for eating but I have used them in a pinch in baking. Red Delicious apples become much softer when cooked, but since I like my apples sweet and very soft when cooked, that doesn't bother me.

Cranberry Muffins

Mix 1 cup of chopped cranberries with 3 Tbsp. of sugar. Add to your favorite muffin mix. For those of you who have the Dining on a Dime Cookbook, you can use either muffin recipe on page 56. For a muffin to go with your meal use the basic recipe or for more of a dessert type muffin, use Mom's Sweet Muffins on the same page.

Pecan Pie Muffins

1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup (stick) butter or margarine, melted

Combine first 3 ingredients. In separate bowl beat eggs until foamy and add butter. Pour egg mix into dry ingredients and blend until moistened. Don't over blend. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes.

Thanksgiving Feast - November 18, 2008

Hi!

I hope you are on track getting ready for Thanksgiving! We are having Thanksgiving at our house this year instead of eating out, but mom is doing all the cooking at her house. Weird, I know, but I'm not feeling too great now, so getting the house in decent order will probably be enough for me (uh, I mean for Mike LOL).

This week's Sale Of The Week is 10 Christmas Recipe E-books for $10.00! With lots of delicious recipes and tips for holiday fun and games, this e-book package is sure to add some cheer to your holiday season! Learn more about it here!

Have you checked out the blog lately? We are still working out a few minor kinks, but we are up and posting so check it out here!

Have a great week!

-Tawra
www.LivingOnADime.com

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Thanksgiving Feast
by Jill Cooper

It's really hard to find ways to save on your Thanksgiving dinner because, let's face it -- It doesn't get a whole lot cheaper than a turkey dinner! Still, I have found some ways that you can save and today I'll pass them on to you! ;-)

For starters, the larger turkeys are usually cheaper, so buy the largest one you can. I hear some of you groaning now about what to do with all those leftovers because you really don't need a 22 lb. turkey for 6 people. Not to worry -- just don't bake the whole thing.

I discovered one year by accident that my butcher (at a regular national chain grocery store) would cut it in half for me. Even if it is frozen he can still do it. This discovery really changed my life. (That sounds dramatic, but I was really having a problem becoming "one" with my turkeys.)

I suddenly had the revelation that I didn't have to deal with mounds of leftover turkey that haunted my post Thanksgiving menu for years. I had just enough for a good old turkey sandwich and some soup. I mean Thanksgiving really isn't Thanksgiving without a few leftovers, is it?

It was so much easier to handle and prepare an 11 lb. turkey rather than to man handle a 22 lb. one. Getting it cleaned and into the pan was a breeze and in and out of the oven was just plain simple.

Just wrap the other half and freeze it to use for Christmas. I've often made ham for Christmas just because by Christmas we are so sick of turkey that we don't want to think of preparing another one -- ever! By not creating so many leftovers, your family might not mind having turkey again. That's also potentially one less thing to buy for Christmas dinner.

If you still don't want to have turkey for Christmas, save it for some cold day in January. If you have a large enough crock pot, cook the turkey it the crock pot. If not, cook it on very low in the oven so that it slow cooks all day. Do you know how delightful it is to come home to the yummy smell of slow cooked turkey?

---

Sale Of The Week!
Collection of 10 Holiday Recipe e-Books for $10.00!

Including:

• All Time Favorite Christmas Cookies
  
• Holiday Candy & Fudge
  
• Cheesecake Recipes
  
• A Homemade Christmas
  
• And Lots More!
  

You'll find 1,200 delicious recipes in these e-books to get your holiday cooking juices flowing! Get them all for $10.00 now through Monday!

Learn More Here!

---

Save by making your own pies and instead of buying the expensive pre-made ones. If you are daunted by the thought of making pie crust, just buy a ready made one. They are usually on sale for very little around Thanksgiving.

It really isn't that hard to make the filling for most pies. Often they are easier to make than a cake or cookies. If you like the traditional pumpkin pie, most cans have the recipe on the back. I also know a really good book you can find the recipe in called Dining on a Dime. HA!HA!

If your family and friends aren't fussy about having the traditional, then you can make banana cream, chocolate, or butterscotch pie. Just take a box of banana pudding, mix it up and pour it into a baked pie crust. Cover with sliced bananas and whipped topping. For the chocolate pie use chocolate pudding with chocolate chips in it and cover it with whipped topping. For the butterscotch use butterscotch pudding, whipped topping and sprinkle with butterscotch chips. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

You don't have to make so many pies that you could open a bakery. I have found that most kids are just as happy with a platter of cookies. Don't overdo it. You'll just wear yourself out! If you have time, make the cookies in the shapes of pumpkins and turkeys.

Save on your relish dish. Buying ingredients for a relish dish can get expensive, especially where we live. One year I paid more for my relish dish items than my turkey. If you're having this problem, only use 3-4 veggies on it instead of 10 and cut out on the more expensive veggies. For example broccoli and cauliflower are very high priced for us so I would probably use carrots and celery. I fill the celery with cheese or peanut butter or cut them into fancy shapes. On this occasion, the turkey is the star and most people won't even notice that you cut back on the relish dish.

Don't make so many side dishes-- Like I said the turkey, gravy and mashed potatoes are above all else. By the time everyone stuffs themselves on those, they only eat a token amount of the side dishes. Why? ---Because of course everyone wants to save room for dessert!!!!!

Fruitcakes! - November 13, 2008

Dear Readers,

I just want to remind you that you can get Free Shipping on all of our print books through Monday so you can get what you need for the holidays! These books make great gifts, so don't forget your friends and family members who need a little boost improving their cooking and finances! Learn more here.

The blog is up and running!! If you haven't seen the new design, check it out here!

Have a great weekend!

-Tawra
www.LivingOnADime.com

---

Fruitcakes
(no, not your brother or your Aunt Mabel :-) )

Today's recipes are dedicated to my sweet daughter who has for many years now tried desperately to bake herself the perfect fruitcake. It has almost become a family tradition to watch and see what interesting combination she will come up with yet again this year.

I have to give her credit though. I don't think I have ever seen anyone work with such vigor, determination and tenacity to accomplish something as she does each year with her fruitcake. I'm not sure what we will have to look forward to if one year she actually succeeds and bakes the perfect one. : ) : )

If you haven't figured out by now, I am going to be talking about fruitcakes. You either love them or you hate them. There is no middle ground. If you are a lover of them then here are some tips for you (and my daughter) to help you have success in baking them.

Today's Tips:

• If you plan to make fruitcakes for Christmas, you need to make them now, this week, because most fruitcakes have to "season" for at least a month and are even better if you can let them set longer.
  


• I know some of you would love to give them as gifts, but I suggest starting small until you have some success with them. The ingredients for fruitcakes can be expensive. If you buy a ton of ingredients and make several batches that subsequently flop you can be out a lot of money.
  


• Be sure to allow you fruitcake to age for at least a month before you put it in the freezer. Freezing stops the aging (or seasoning) process.
  


• Always bake at low temperatures: 250 - 300 degrees is best, but some recipes do go a little higher depending on their ingredients.
  


• Because they take so long to bake, line the pan with 1-3 layers of brown paper (you can use a brown paper sack) to prevent them from getting too brown and drying out. Make sure the paper comes up a couple of inches past the top of the pan.
  


• Fill the pan only 2/3 full with batter.
  


• To help prevent the fruitcake from drying out, place a pan of hot water on a lower rack in the oven while it is baking.
  


• To test whether it is done, insert a toothpick. If it comes out moist but not gooey, it is done.
  


• Let fruitcakes cool on a cooling rack before taking them out of the pan. When cool, dump them out of the pan and peel off the paper.
  


• You can bake in muffin pans or mini loaf pans, but be sure to adjust the baking time. It will be shorter.
  


• Don't store in a plastic container. The fruitcake will absorb old flavors that have been left behind in the plastic. Wrap in plastic wrap; then foil. Do not wrap with the foil touching the fruitcake because in some cases it can cause a chemical reaction.
  


• You can take any basic recipe and change what you put in it as far as the fruits and nuts are concerned. Just be sure you use the same amounts. For example if it calls for one cup of dried pineapple, you can replace it with mango as long as you use one cup.
  


• Always mix the fruit and nuts with some or all of the flour for the recipe before you put it in. This keeps all these things from sinking to the bottom. Do this with any recipe that calls for fruit or nuts.
  


• As with any recipe, read it from start to finish before you begin!
  

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Sale Of The Week!
FREE SHIPPING On all Print Books!
(through Monday, November 17th)

Learn to:

• Reduce grocery bills
  


• cook from scratch
  


• Reduce debt and live better!
  

Give a gift that will make their lives better!

Learn More Here!

---

Today's Recipes:

Here are 4 fruitcake recipes that you might try. The first is not your usual fruitcake, but I thought it was perfect for our web site (Poor mans fruitcake ;-) ) and the second is a more traditional one. Number 3 is a no bake and the fourth, (No Fail fruitcake) I dedicate to my daughter in hopes of her success. : ) : )

Poor Man's Fruitcake

1 cup butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten well
4 cups flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. each cloves, nutmeg and salt
1 1/2 cup applesauce
1 tsp. baking soda
1 Tbsp. hot water
1 tsp. vanilla
16 oz. gum drops, no black ones
3 cups raisins
1 cup pecans

Preheat oven to 325°. Grease and line two 9x5 loaf pans with brown paper.
Sift flour, and spices. Cut gum drops into fourths, and mix those, the raisins and nuts with part of flour mix. Cream together butter, sugars and eggs. Alternately, add the flour mix and applesauce. Add soda to hot water and mix it into the batter. Then add the vanilla. Add gumdrops, raisins, and nuts mixture.
Bake for 2 hours. If you use a tube pan instead of loaf pans bake 30-40 minutes longer.

Christmas Wreath Fruitcake

(Don't forget that you can take out anything like the dates or fruits and replace them with equal amounts of something you prefer.)

1 1/2 cup raisins
1 cup red and green cherries
3/4 cup dates, pitted and chopped
3/4 cup candied pineapple, diced
1/2 cup coconut
3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup butter
1 1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp. lemon zest
4 eggs
2 tsp. lemon juice

Preheat oven to 300°. Mix first 8 ingredients. In separate bowl cream butter, sugar and add lemon zest, eggs and lemon juice. Mix into flour mixture. Bake for 2 hours.

No Bake Fruitcake

14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
2 cups raisins
2 cups mini marshmallows
2 cups candied pineapple chunks
2 cups dates, pitted and chopped
1 cup dried currants
1 cup walnuts, chopped
2 cups almonds, chopped
1/4 cup candies cherries
1/2 tsp. each nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, salt
4 cups graham cracker crumbs

Grease a 9x13 loaf pan. Mix everything well and pour into the pan. Cover and let stand in a cool place for 1 week to age.

Never Fail Fruitcake
Daughter, dear, this one is for you. Luv, mum. : ) : )

This is a big recipe but you can easily half it. Using half, you can make 22 cupcakes but, if you do, only bake them for 40 minutes.

1 lb. candied cherries, chopped
1 lb. dates, pitted and chopped
1 lb. candied pineapple, chopped
1 lb. pecans, chopped
4 (8oz.) pkgs. coconut
3 Tbsp. flour
2 (14 oz.) cans of sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 300°. Grease two 9x13 pans and line with brown paper or parchment paper. Mix everything very well and press into pans. Bake 1 1/2 hours. Cool and remove from pan.

Save In Your Sleep! - November 11, 2008

Good Morning!

Happy Veteran's Day! We thank all of you who have sacrificed for us and our nation!

Today we are having what is normally our Day After Thanksgiving Print Book Sale (early). We are offering Free Shipping on all of our print books! These print books are a favorite gift for many of our readers. Who do you know who might benefit from them this holiday season? Read more about it here!

We are having this sale for our readers because we are going to be in Parade magazine in December. We only have 2000 books left and once we are in Parade, they will sell out quickly. The new shipment won't be here until the week after Christmas, so we are giving you, our readers, a heads up so you don't miss out!

If you want any books for Christmas this is the time to get them! This is going to be our only sale on our print books between now and Christmas. Don't say I didn't warn you. :-) Learn more here!

The blog is up and running!! I am trying to learn how to post and get pictures on so it might take a little while longer before I'm fully up to speed. You can check out the new and improved blog here!! Oh yeah, the blog's RSS feed is up and running, so subscribe away!!

Have a great week!

-Tawra
www.LivingOnADime.com

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Save In Your Sleep!
by Jill Cooper

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

-Matthew 11:28

Sleep, Sleep, Sleep... We hear it all the time-- You must get 8 hours of sleep and 8 glasses of water a day. We pay as much attention to that warning as our children do when we tell them for the umpteenth time "Don't play with that or you will get hurt". But after living with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for 15 plus years, I have learned the hard way how very important sleep is.

It is so important that God devoted 8-10 hours each and every day to sleeping and one whole day a week to resting. Think about it. Is there anything else that He gave so much time to? And since He knew we were like silly little children who refuse to take a nap, He put resting in the 10 commandments hoping that that would really get our attention. There were only 10 things that made it on that all important list and resting was one of them.

Sleep is as necessary to life as food and water. Each of us needs to realize how much lack of sleep affects our whole life. Are we too tired to clean the house, prepare meals, or do the laundry? Are we so tired that when our children come to us for our help with something, we snap at them or when our spouses want some snuggle time, we look at them like they have grown two heads?

Lack of sleep affects children even more than adults, but many of us let them keep the same late hours as the adults. When I was a young mom I was told that children usually whine and cry for one of two reasons: They are tired or hungry. If you keep them well rested, and make sure they get snacks throughout the day, you will eliminate most of their whining and crying. I have found that to be so true.

I had an example of that happen just the other day. My three year old grandson is always so good about going down for his nap. He allows himself to be picked up, passed around for kisses and then laid down without a peep. The other day, however, when he was told it was time for his nap he said "NO! I don't want a nap," and fought all the way to bed.

This seemed so out of character for him but then it dawned on me: He always takes his nap at 12:00 but this day, he did some running around with his dad and by the time they were done, it was almost 2:30. He was tired, so there was no reasoning with him. He couldn't think rationally because he was tired. Often, the parent gets angry at the child for throwing a fit, but it was really the parent's fault for not allowing the child to get his proper rest.

We adults act the same way when we are tired. We become irritable, impatient, discouraged and depressed. No one can reason with us. We start acting just like that tired child and usually don't realize it. Exhaustion also affects us physically. Your doctor will tell you that people tend to catch more viruses when they are tired and our bodies simply don't work at 100 percent. We start seeing the world through a hazy fog and everything becomes a burden.

Have I painted a clear enough picture for you? Does that describe the way you feel most of the time (maybe even right now)? Then you need to get serious about your family's sleeping habits.

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Sale Of The Week!
FREE SHIPPING On all Print Books!
(U.S. Orders Only - ends November 17, 2008)

Dining On A Dime is great for:

• Teaching kids to cook (don't forget teenagers and grandkids)
  


• Single moms and even more desperately important, single DADS! ;-)
  


• ANYONE you want to help get out of debt, or just give a "thank you" gift to this holiday season!
  

Learn More here!

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Here are some tips to help you get your family the sleep it needs:

1. If you are a new mom or a mom with sick children, you may have to let some things go for a season. Just accept it and scale back your activities. I discovered this many years ago when I had an 18 month old and a newborn with colic. My oldest would be up 3-4 times each night and my newborn was up most of the night just crying. If I had two hours of sleep, I thought I had died and gone to heaven.
   
   On the rare occasions when they would take naps at the same time, I made the mistake of trying to get really dumb things done, like ironing my children's pajamas and tee shirts, instead of taking a nap. Needless to say, it didn't take long for me to become seriously ill with walking pneumonia, which lasted three months.
   
   Learn from my mistakes and take a nap when you can, even if it means hiring a babysitter to watch the kids at home while you sleep. If you think you don't have the money to hire a babysitter you might want to think again. Which is cheaper, a babysitter or doctor bills?
   
   Keep your meals as simple as possible If all you can manage for a few months is sandwiches, make sandwiches. The same applies to cleaning the house. Do only the necessary cleaning and upkeep. This is not the time for spring cleaning. Even if you have to let the dusting and vacuuming go for a while, the rest will help you more.
   


2. Give yourself permission to take a nap or, if you have to, make yourself take a nap. You say you don't have the time, but most people can find serious improvement with even 20 minutes' rest to refresh themselves. Find the time. Make your shower 10 minutes shorter or get rid of one of your non essential activities during the day like shopping, volunteer work, killing time on the computer or talking on the phone. If you work, take an alarm with you to work and take a quick nap in your car. Where there's a will there's a way. Find that 20 minutes some place.
   


3. Make your children take naps. Up until first grade, on the days my kids weren't in school, they always took naps. When they were older and for whatever reason stayed up late the night before, I made them at least lie down and rest the next day.
   
   No matter how old they are, children need some daily down time. If they were too old for naps, I would send them to their rooms for 30 minutes each day during the summer to read, color or do some quiet activity. This not only helped them rest, but it separated them from their siblings and me. No matter how much you love each other, living in the same house 24/7, you will get on each others nerves if you never get a break. This gives everyone a break.
   


4. Have a regular bedtime routine. Whether it is bath time, story time, prayer time or just tucking the kids in with hugs and kisses, have a routine. When you are tucking the children in, give yourself an extra 15-20 minutes to talk to them. That is one of the best times of day to find out about things they have on their minds. Why? Because they are relaxed and they will use every stall tactic known to man to keep from going to bed, even if that means talking to mom and dad.
   
   Make sure that they have a regular bed time and stick to it. This is very important! Children have their own built in clocks. When you wake them up and put them to bed at different times every day it causes their biological clocks to go haywire. They need to get at least 10 hours of sleep a night. That means putting them to bed at a decent time. Up until they started high school, my children always went to bed at 8:30. That may seem hard to believe but I didn't have nearly the problem with attitudes, whining, sulking or outright rebellion that a lot of parents had to deal with.
   
   I don't know how many moms over the years came to me tearing their hair out saying "I don't know what is wrong with my child but he won't stop whining or throwing tantrums." I knew exactly what the problem was. Mom had taken him to her Bible study the night before and didn't get home until 10:00. She then dragged the child out of bed at 5:30 in the morning to get ready before they left for school and work. The day before that the child got to sleep in until 11:00. You may think that irregular sleeping hours doesn't affect your child but you might be surprised to find that at least 50 percent of whining and fussing would stop if the kids had regular hours.
   
   When you start putting children to bed earlier than usual, you will have to start slowly. If the children are used to going to bed at 10:30 or 11:00 at night, don't suddenly make them go to bed at 8:30. Start at 10:00 for a few nights then move it up to 9:30 and so on until you reach the bedtime you want.
   
   Don't forget to adjust for daylight savings time or if you will be traveling between time zones. A week or so before the change, start putting the kids to bed 15 minutes earlier or later so the can start adjusting to the new time.
   
   Adults need regular bedtime routines, too. As much as possible, try to have a set time that you go to bed each night. An hour or two before you go to bed, try to start unwinding. This is the time to talk over your day with your spouse, read a good book, or sip a hot cup of cocoa. It is also a good time to take a warm bath. Not only will it relax you, but it will be one less thing to do in the morning. If you are a new mom you probably don't need to unwind because you will fall asleep the minute you sit down, so just go to bed while you can.
   


5. Make your room and your children's rooms as comfortable as possible. Make your bed in the morning. A made bed is so much more inviting then a rumpled mess, where you have to clear off loads of junk before you can crawl into it. Keep a low wattage bedside lamp on your night stand to start letting your body know it's getting close to time for bed.
   
   Keep your room at a pleasant temperature. Be sure to check the temperature in your children's rooms too. Sometimes when babies and young children have their bedroom doors shut, their rooms can be different temperatures than the rest of the house. This can then cause them to wake up because they are too hot or cold. This can also be the reason if they are having a hard time getting to sleep. Soft music or a fan that helps to drown out background noises are good for children and adults alike.
   

Since we usually write about getting out of debt, you may wonder how being well rested can help save you money? How often do you go out to eat because you are too tired to make dinner? When something breaks, do you just go buy a new one because you are too tired to fix it? Do you buy more clothes then you really need because you are too tired to keep up with the laundry? Do you just say "yes" all the time to your children when they ask to buy something because you are too tired to fight with them? Trust me-- the little monkeys are smart. They know when the enemy is tired and weak and that's usually when they attack! So if you want to win the war you need to get some sleep!

Quick and Easy Recipes - November 6, 2008

Dear Readers,

Since Christmas comes only three weeks after Thanksgiving this year, we are going to be having our usual big annual after Thanksgiving Sale on all print books next week. This way, we can make sure you are able to receive the books in time for Christmas! Watch for it!

The blog is back online! We are still working on correcting some things, but the blog is up and working with a new look! Find it at http://www.livingonadime.com/blog.

I received a number of questions about where I got my Sarah Palin glasses and I have posted more info about it on the blog!

Today's Sale of the Week is "Thriving On One Income" by Kimberly Eddy. So many people think you "can't" live on one income "nowadays" and it's just not true! Not only can you live on one income, but you can have a great thriving family in spite of hard times. Check out this sale of the week here!

Have a great weekend!

-Tawra
www.LivingOnADime.com

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We are closing in on that time of year where we will be spending quite a bit of time in the kitchen baking for the holidays. I don't know about you but after a full day baking marathon, I usually don't feel like spending more time in the kitchen cooking meals.

Over the next couple of weeks, instead of giving you a menu in every Thursday newsletter, I will be giving you recipes and cooking ideas. I will focus on things that you can mix and match that will help make your meals and holiday baking faster and easier.

This week, I am going to give you some easy main dishes some that you can prepare ahead of time and have ready for a busy day. One thing that will speed up any meal is to keep several 1/2 - 1 lb. packages of ground beef already cooked in the freezer. When you get ready to make a dish like today's Pizza Hoagies, you can cut the time in half. It will also save on the clean-up since, if you have your ground beef in the freezer ready and waiting, there'll be one less pan to clean later.

Today's Tips:

• Leftover onion will keep better if the root is left on, so use it from the top down.
  


• To take a white or yellow cake from okay to great, try adding chopped dried fruit to the frosting like apricots, cherries, cranberries, pineapple etc.
  


• If your white sugar is lumpy, place it in a plastic bag and roll with a rolling pin or a sturdy glass.
  

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Sale Of The Week!
Thriving On One Income

Do you feel as if there is no way you can make ends meet on one paycheck?

Learn how to not just Survive but to THRIVE on one income! Thriving on One Income is full of biblical advice, practical tips, and uplifting testimonies.

Learn More here!

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Today's Recipes:

Pizza Hoagies

1/2 - 1 lb. ground beef, cooked
1 jar of pizza sauce
8 oz. mozzarella cheese, grated
Hoagie buns (could use hot dog buns, too)

Place a couple of tablespoons each of all of the above into a hoagie bun. You can adjust the amounts to how much you want in each bun. Wrap in plastic wrap and then place back inside the bag the buns originally came in. You can keep them in the fridge or freezer. When ready to eat, just heat in the microwave for about a minute. The time will vary depending on your microwave.

Fast Green Peppers

Cut the tops off of green peppers, clean out the seeds and use a can of chili for filling. Bake at 350° for about 10-15 minutes.

Glorified Mac and Cheese

Boxed macaroni and cheese is not just for kids. It is easy and inexpensive, and takes about 8 minutes to prepare. Here are some things you can add to it to kick it up a notch:

• Bacon
  


• Sausage
  


• Onions
  


• Peas, broccoli or any other frozen veggies
  


• Hamburger, jalapeno peppers, tomatoes and taco seasoning
  


• Hot dogs
  


• Ham
  


• Tuna
  


• Chicken
  


• Sour cream
  


• Any combination of the above
  

Busy Day Soup

All of these cans are the average size cans (around 15 oz.)

2 cans kidney beans
1 can corn
1 can diced tomatoes
1 small can green chilies
1 packet taco seasoning mix
1 packet ranch dressing mix
1 lb. ground beef, cooked with 1/2 med. onion
1 1/2 cup water

Dump it all into a large pot, not draining anything. Simmer 15 minutes.
Serve with sour cream or cheese

Buyer Beware - November 4, 2008

Hello Everyone!

Happy Election Day! I got my new Sarah Palin knockoff glasses in the mail yesterday - Just in time! They were only $50. I think that's a great deal since the originals were over $650! I'll put more info about it on the blog as soon as we get it fixed.

We are temporarily unable to update the blog, but expect to have it fixed soon. We tried to install the new template and ran into some technical problems. Imagine that! We are working on it and hope to have it fixed soon! Sorry about the delay...

Today's Sale of the Week is "Thriving On One Income" by Kimberly Eddy. So many people think you "can't" live on one income "nowadays" and it's just not true! Not only can you live on one income, but you can have a great thriving family in spite of hard times. Check out this sale of the week here!

Have a great rest of the week!

-Tawra
www.LivingOnADime.com

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Buyer Beware
by Jill Cooper

The other day I was having a hectic day. I was running hither and yon. I hurried into Wal Mart, quickly grabbed up what I needed, swiped my credit card through the machine and ran out the door.

Halfway to the car it dawned on me: I didn't have a clue what I had just spent in there. Now some of you may think, "What is wrong with that?" If this is you, you never know what you spend and didn't realize you were supposed to know. For me, this is strange. I can't remember the last time I bought something without carefully noting the price.

I often get asked how I stay out of debt and control my money. My experience the other day reminded me of one of my most important habits: I generally always keep track and know exactly what I spend. I know how much I have to spend for any given month and I know exactly when I have hit my limit.

How often do you use your credit card and sign the receipt without paying one bit of attention to the amount on the receipt? Instead, you think about where you are going next, what you have to get done today and on and on. When the end of the month comes, you open up the bill and are horribly shocked at how high it is and don't have a clue what you spent all that money on.

There is a verse (Proverbs 27:23-24) that says "Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds; for riches do not endure forever," This is basically saying that you need to know how much money you have, how much you need and where you are spending it. You may come home on Friday with a great paycheck, but if you don't pay careful attention to it, your "riches" will be gone by Monday.

You need to take this verse just as seriously as you do all the others in the Bible. Listen to it and practice it just as much as you do the ones that tell you not to lie, steal, murder or commit adultery (I hope you practice those) :) :) .

Stop burying your head in the sand, thinking, "If I don't know what is going on it will all fix itself." That makes as much sense as, if you had cancer, convincing yourself that by not going to the doctor it would go away.

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Sale Of The Week!
Thriving On One Income

Do you feel as if there is no way you can make ends meet on one paycheck?

Learn how to not just Survive but to THRIVE on one income!

Thriving on One Income is full of biblical advice, practical tips, and uplifting testimonies.

Learn More here!

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The holidays are now officially here. You will be spending like crazy and swiping those credit cards all over the place, so here are a couple of tips to get you started controlling you money and spending more wisely this season:

• This week (and don't put it off) go through your finances. Seriously look at them. Don't cheat. How much do you owe, how much do you make, how much can you afford to spend.
  


• Set a fixed amount that you can spend for everything; gifts, food, entertaining, travel etc. Next divide that up for each category; this much for gifts for my children and spouse, this much for gifts for friends, this much for holiday meals or baking etc.
  
  It's best to do those first because you may find out that you don't have enough to host a Christmas party or to go somewhere for the holidays.
  


• If you find out you don't even have enough for gifts and holiday food this year, you will have to become creative (Trust me -- it won't hurt you and might even improve you). Check out our website and books. We have tons of ideas to help you to get started.
  


• If you have been as creative as you can and the money just isn't there, then you may have to find a way to bring in extra money, whether it is by working an extra job or doing something from home like babysitting, ironing, typing, computer work, shoveling snow or a newspaper route. Do something. As I have said before in the past, I have baked and sold gingerbread men at Christmas time and every penny I get goes for Christmas dinner and gifts for my kids and grandkids. Where there's a will, there's a way.
  


• Be strong. Stick to the amount you have set and don't give in to the temptation to buy that really expense gift you can't afford, even if your angel of a child with puppy dog eyes who you love so much begs, pleads and swears that he will die if he doesn't get it.
  


• Closely watch what you are spending. If you know you have $100 to spend on gifts today and the cash register totals $200, then you are in trouble. You need to take something back.
  
  If it totals $50, you know you are doing great. Maybe you can even get a little something extra if you need to. The point is to watch and pay careful attention to your "flocks" (money) because if you don't, not only will your riches not last forever, they probably won't make it through the weekend.
  

-Jill

Red Hot Cinnamon Candies

When picking up your Halloween clearance candy be sure to get some red cinnamon candies if you can. Last year I found a 5lb bag for $.50 and thought what am I going to do with all of these but they ended up coming in really handy. Here are some things I used them for:

~I mixed them with dry roasted peanuts and put in cellophane bags for Christmas and Valentines gifts.

~Dissolve them in apple cider with a couple of drops of red food coloring for a delicious and easy hot drink. This is a great drink for Thanksgiving or a red Valentines drink.

~Use them for decorating all kinds of things from cookies to cakes.

~At that price you can make them part of your Christmas decorations by placing them in pretty dishes and sitting them around the living room and kitchen. They add a spot of bright color and are there for a quick treat if someone wants one. It's a change from the usually peppermints.

~Of course don't forget our red cinnamon jello salad.

Jill

Using Leftover Halloween Candy - October 30, 2008

Good morning!

I hope that you have your costumes all ready! Don't tell mom, but I still have one to make! :-) Of course she made the other two so you would think I could at least get one done! LOL My problem right now is finding a cheap white lab coat for our "mad scientist". If I don't find one he might have to go as Frankenstein instead.

Don't forget to check out our Sale of the Week. It's for a great DVD to learn how to decorate cakes. Learning this skill has saved me hundreds of dollars so far! Check out this week's Sale of the Week here!

Also if you missed last week's sale, Mike forgot to take it off so you can still get our Menus On A Dime e-book set for only $9.95 through midnight tonight. Find it here.

I wanted to let you know about our free e-book this week! It describes How to Make A Candy Christmas Wreath. This is an EASY and CHEAP Christmas gift if you buy your candy the day after Halloween. Please feel free to share this link with your friends, in your blog or on your website. Find it at http://www.livingonadime.com/ebooks/candy-wreath-freebie.html

We are working on putting up a new blog design for the blog which may cause it not to display properly, so if you can't get to it for a while today please be patient while we fix it! Thanks!

Have a fun and safe Halloween!

-Tawra
www.LivingOnADime.com

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Leftover Halloween Candy
by Tawra Kellam

To prevent sugar shock, have a big bag of popcorn waiting when everyone comes back from Trick or treating. It's easy to fix and will counteract some of the sweet stuff.

Here are sone tips for using all of that extra Halloween Candy!

• You can freeze candy up to a year in the freezer.
  


• Don't forget to buy discounted Halloween candy for Christmas stockings and parties. Most kids don't care if their Christmas candy is orange and black or if it has silver and gold wrappers instead of red and green.
  


• Use leftover Halloween candy in Christmas baking and for making gingerbread houses.
  


• It is easier to cut candy into pieces if you freeze it first.
  


• Break Butterfinger candy bars into peanut butter cookie dough.
  


• Sprinkle chopped chocolates on a white or chocolate frosted cake or use them to top ice cream and cheesecake.
  


• Mix leftover chopped chocolates into cake mixes.
  


• Cut a hole in the center of rolled out sugar cookie dough. Place a hard colored candy into the center. Bake as usual. The candies will create a stained glass look.
  

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Sale Of The Week
Learn Cake Decorating DVD

Have you ever wanted to take one of those cake decorating classes but just can't find the time?

Learn how to make beautiful cakes with this wonderful instructional DVD from our friends at TeachingGoodThings.com!

Learn More here!

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Today's Recipes:

Candy Bar Milk Shakes

1 cup mini candy bars, chopped
2 cups (1 pint) ice cream (chocolate or vanilla)
1/2 cup chocolate syrup
1 1/4 cups milk

Chop candies in a food processor. They are easier to chop if they are partially frozen. Add the rest of the ingredients. Mix until blended. This makes a thick shake. Add 1/4 cup milk for a thinner shake. Makes 2 milkshakes.

Chocolate Chip Candy Bar Cookies

45 mini Hershey's candy bars
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3 cups flour

Preheat oven to 325°. Chop candy bars. Cream butter and sugars in a bowl. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend well. Fold in candy bar pieces. Scoop batter onto a greased cookie sheet with a teaspoon. Bake 9-11 minutes until golden. Let rest on cookie sheet 2 minutes before moving to a cooling rack. Cool completely. Makes 2-3 dozen.