The Make-Ahead Thanksgiving Dinner: Side Dishes

I just wanted to take the time to share some make-ahead side dishes that you could bring or provide at your next Thanksgiving dinner. Don't forget to visit my make-ahead appetizers post to get ideas for getting your meal started off right (without the stress!)

These entries will be an ongoing series until Thanksgiving, and then these will be turned into an article for future reference. If you have ideas for dishes that you can make ahead for the holidays, please email me at amy@momadvice.com and I will include your recipes within the entries.

Make-Ahead Thanksgiving Side Dishes

Bread Stuffing

Creamy Corn Casserole

Boston Market Squash Casserole

Broccoli Rice Casserole

Sweet Potato & Apple Casserole

Macaroni & Cheese

Cranberry Sauce (Make a few days ahead to allow flavors to merry)

Mashed Potatoes

Sound Off: What is your favorite Thanksgiving side dish?

Frugal Hacks: Movies On a Budget

Today on Frugal Hacks I share some different ways you can watch movies on a budget. I hope you can join me over there and read my post for the week!

We are always looking for new ways to watch movies inexpensively and recently I have become a big fan of just searching for movies using a search function that we have on our DVR. It has been so nice to find holiday movies on television and just tape them for our enjoyment over the weekend.

We also rent a lot of movies from our library because the price is just right for a family on a tight budget! Children's movies and nonfiction movies are free at our library and all other movies only cost us a quarter a day.

We also happen to live just a mile down the road from a second-run theater and I love to go see movies there. $1 admission can sometimes be even cheaper than renting them from the movie rental store and I get the movie-theater experience for the same price.

More Difficult Than It Should Be

We had to bring a snack to the Halloween Party that we attended and I was so excited to make Scribbit's witch hats to bring with us. What an easy and fun idea...this SHOULD have been.

I didn't realize it, but after visiting three grocery stores, I was unable to find the chocolate cookies that I needed to complete the project.

I had to get a little more creative than usual so I used Christina's Chocolate Crinkles recipe and patted the cookies into a very flat shape. To insure that they stayed flat, I patted them when I removed them from the oven.

The shapes were still not even so I used my great-grandma's biscuit cutter (a favorite piece in my kitchen) to cut out perfect circles.

I found Hershey Kisses filled with caramel and used these to rest on top. A frosting bow did complete the look.

The kitchen was short of a disaster and this turned into a little more work than I had intended to put into the snack.

I must say that the results were great and I was proud of how they turned out. The cookies probably tasted better than the store-bought version and who couldn't appreciate how festive they looked?

Thanks to Michelle for the great treat idea!! I just thought I would share my substitute in case you have as much trouble as me finding these cookies!

Fun & Frugal Adult Halloween Costume Idea

Sometimes the adults have to dress up for parties too and couple costumes can be so outrageous. While deals can be scored on costumes through eBay or by making your own, many costume sets can cost fifty dollars or more for one night of entertainment. That is where creativity and fun can come into play, as we got the chance to do this year.

Above is my husband's handsome milkman costume. (Note: I hope you can click on this picture to expand it to see things in more detail. The lighting was not good so I apologize for the lighting in this!) The hat was purchased from a costume shop and originally was intended as a captain's hat. We took all of the gold roping off of it and made it into a milkman hat. The cost for this was $6.99. I purchased a white shirt for him from Goodwill on half off day which cost me $1.25. The bow tie was made from the ribbon that I had bought from Big Lots this past week for $1.00 per spool.

Although you can't see it, he also is carrying a small grocery basket from our children's kitchen set. We filled it with empty coffee bottles to mimic the old school milk bottles.

The kisses on his collar were free and completed his milkman attire!

As a housewife, I just dressed like I always do (in one of my fun aprons), but rolled my hair and made my make-up a little more reflective of the times. I carried one of our daughter's baby dolls with a little bow tie on it (also from the Big Lots ribbon) that indicated that this was most definitely the milkman's baby.

This was an adult-only party, but our son wanted to be "fancy" like daddy so we made a little bow tie just for him. He wore it for the duration of the evening and I kept joking that he looked much more like the milkman's baby than that silly baby doll.

We had a blast and it was fun to play dress-up for one night. We rarely do things like this and it was a real treat to have a night out like this.

Anyone else go to a Halloween Party? What did you dress up as?

Homemade NutraGrain Bars

My kids love cereal bars and I have trouble keeping these in steady supply for our family. I happened upon this recipe to make my own and I thought I would give it a shot. I think the results were nothing short of phenomenal!

I used strawberry preserves that I purchased from Aldi. I did notice that Aldi is also carrying some sugar-free preserves that could easily be substituted if you were trying to be more careful about sweets.

A tray of these made about fifteen generous bars. I don't think the cost-savings on these is that great, but the taste is much better and would be great if you were trying to make more things yourself or were in a pinch until grocery day. These can also be cut and frozen to be used later or tucked in your child's lunch.

You can also substitute your granola bars with my homemade version!

I hope your children enjoy these as much as our family has!

MomAdvice Friday: Are You Staying On Track With Groceries?

Thank you for all of your heartfelt replies and emails about my question last week regarding my son's "mirror writing." I am taking all of your advice into consideration and want to know how comforting it is to know that many children get through this with absolutely no problems at all. We will continue to keep practicing and communicating with his teacher.

This week, I wondered how everyone has been doing with their grocery budgets. I know that I am a very disciplined grocery shopper and I have been finding myself going fifty-sixty dollars over my usual grocery amount. I am more in tune with this amount now that I am attempting to only grocery shop once a month (except for milk runs in between).

I am not sure if I am the only one struggling in this department or if different areas are having more difficulties than me. We have a family of four and our monthly grocery amount has been $200 per month. This month, I have went sixty dollars over and we are still eating the same stuff as we always do.

Maybe my grocery dollars aren't going as far because my son is going through a growth spurt? Maybe it is because my husband has been coming home for lunch more and I feel like we should have a more elaborate lunch with him? Maybe it is just because groceries are too darn expensive?

So..what are your grocery budgets and family size? Have you seen an increase in your grocery budget these past few months? Do you have grocery tips to share for those of us who aren't doing as well?

Freebie Friday: October 26, 2007

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and enjoys all of their freebies!






Health & Beauty:

Oxyfresh Toothpaste

Serenity Overnight Pads

Garnier Nutritioniste

Cover Girl Cover Match

Food:

Bag of Halloween Candy (Note: I understand that some of the Kmart stores are NOT taking this coupon- contact your store to see if they will accept this offer)

Home & Garden:

Purex Natural Elements

Sam's Club One Day Pass

Another Sam's Club One Day Pass

Entertainment:

Living the Country Life Magazine

Homemade Magazine (scroll to the bottom and send an email to the address listed)

Giant Magazine

Pet Care:

2.2# bag of pet food from Canine Caviar (First Time Customers Only!)

Free After Rebate:

Quicken 2008 Software
Quicken Rebate Form

Not free, but....

One of my favorite readers, Tracy, sent this great Christmas deal that she ran across and she wanted to share it with us! Thanks, Tracy!! You are the best!

All Around Our House 10.25.07

My son stayed home with a belly ache today so I took a few pictures of things going on around our house and what we are up to. I was having difficulties with the memory card on my camera so I didn't take as many pictures as I usually do this week for my blog. Here is my way to make up for it!


This first picture is the bench that I purchased for our entryway. I found it at our local Meijer and was pleased with the quality of the piece and how comfortable it is too. I am trying to work on making our home more inviting and making guests stand to take their shoes off didn't seem too inviting to me. This is the first step towards the direction of what we would like to do for our entryway. We are also planning to wainscot the entrance to make it feel more inviting and get a new light fixture to replace the seventies version that is currently there.

We also relocated our own shoes and belongings and hung some hooks for our coats now in the garage. My bench was moved out there so that the kids can sit down to pull off their shoes. I got a couple of cheap milk crates to throw our backpacks and bags in there.

Yesterday we finally got a chance to do some leaf crafts together. While Emily took her nap, Ethan and I got some special time together to pick out leaves from our front yard. Even though I mowed this past weekend, the yard is filled with leaves. We brought them in the house and traced them, colored with them, and decorated our kitchen window. Ethan wanted to hang part of them upside down since they were "falling from the trees." This was a fun craft to work on, to practice his cutting skills, and gave us an opportunity to talk about nature. I don't feel like I do enough of this with him so we both really enjoyed ourselves yesterday.

I threw a chicken in the slow cooker for our dinner tonight. We have been doing really well this month with our menu plan. This will be our first month really on my husband's once-a-month pay schedule and doing my menu plan has really helped us from going out so much and it has been much easier to figure out what to make when entertaining our friends & family.
I am also finally getting around to reading "Eat Pray Love"by Elizabeth Gilbert. It is hard to explain the book, but it is truly has been a great read for me and an interesting look into another person's travels and spiritual journey. Everyone had been telling me to read this, but I had other books in my to-be-read piles. I am so glad I am finally sitting down to read this- it is a fascinating and fun read.
I also finally found a place to store some of my ribbon so it will be more organized. The pretty suitcase that my "sister" sent from that sister swap is the perfect place to keep all of it. It looks so pretty in the case and it is a clever place to store it without it taking up additional room.

Big Lots Deals

I hit Big Lots this week and I am so glad I did. They had beautiful bolts of grosgrain ribbon (5 yard rolls) marked for $1 each. I bought 22 rolls for my ribbon stash. This might sound excessive, but it will be a great investment for making bows for my daughter and for my little side business. Thanks to Meredith for the mention on her blog because now I am filling a few out-of-town orders too! (Note: For all my local friends, I have just started back up since my mom was sick so if you are still wanting to place orders with me, just shoot me an email at amy@momadvice.com. I apologize that I had to take a break, but am hoping to get the ball rolling again).

I bought all the red and greens that I could find, in anticipation of the holiday season, and also bought some pretty autumn colors for my daughter. The ribbon bolts were hidden away in a small box by the gift wrap and gift bags.

Another steal of a deal were the boxes of hair color. Since I run my own beauty parlor over here, $2 for a warm fall shade seems like a reasonable investment to me. They had all different brands marked between $2-5 a box.

It looks like I will have some fun projects this weekend-hair bows and hair color!

The stores are putting their holiday decorations and goodies out this week. They had lots of holiday linens, mugs, gift sets, and lots of other fun treats.

Amy's Notebook 10.25.07

Good news! We are putting the finishing touches on our new product review blog, The Motherloot! I can't wait to share it with all of you and it will be so nice to have a separate home for our reviews.

Other places you might find us this week:
Frugal Hacks
The Carnival of Family Life & The Carnival of Recipes & Make it From Scratch sharing our make-ahead appetizer ideas for Thanksgiving.
The Festival of Frugality shared our bubbly magnet post and named us an Editor's Pick!
The Carnival of Personal Finance included our fun & frugal wrapping ideas post.
I was also on WSBT-TV this week, but I haven't seen the segment posted yet. It also ended up appearing on Wednesday instead of Tuesday due to another interview so unfortunately I don't have anything to share. I will be sure to post if this goes up!
I also spoke to the Middlebury,IN MOPS group on cleaning- thanks for the opportunity to share with those moms and meet others from the Michiana community!


Now on to my notebook entry for today...There were so many great ideas this week so be sure to visit these!

I love these pictures of additional ideas for things you can do with your pumpkin this year.

How cute are these dressed up magazine holders?

These hats are so cool- I especially love the curlers idea!

I have been saving my coffee canisters for awhile now and I love these pumpkin canisters. I think I might need to make some snowmen ones too!

These flower pot canisters would make a lovely addition to my daughter's room and would be a great way to organize all of her hair accessories.

I am going to have to make some ghost toast for the kids.

I love these ideas and designs for window films.

This post gave me some great ideas for some creative Halloween & fall decorations.

These witch kitchen jars look like a lot of work, but those are some amazing results!

I like this idea for a kid's table for our Thanksgiving dinner. Much more fun than a plain old table!

I love this old-fashioned basket for library trips. I will have to keep my eyes peeled at the thrift store.

I think I might make some of these witch hat treats for some of the fun Halloween events we are going to.

I am also going to add this Potato Soup and Pumpkin Crunch Cake to my menu planner for next month! Yummy!

I love these organizing ideas for my desk! There are some very creative and frugal solutions!

Be a Wrap Superstar: Use What You Have

Sometimes it is more fun to spend money on the gifts themselves than it is to spend it on wrapping your gifts. While I love an elegantly wrapped gift, I do enjoy sharing on creative wrapping solutions too. In fact, sometimes those creative solutions are right under your nose. Wouldn't Hallmark be disappointed if we used items we already had to wrap our gifts instead of keeping them in business with their gift bags and wrapping paper?

Here in this first picture is a grocery sack. This paper bag was purchased for five cents from Aldi Supermarket. This was, of course, before I had made the switch to cloth grocery bags so I have many of these useful bags laying around my house that aren't being used.

You can leave the paper bag plain or you can decorate it. I happened to have a Christmas stamp that I stamped onto the paper. The gift tag came from a book of scrapbooking tags that I happened upon at Michael's. I used my coupon to buy them and they were $2 (less with the coupon) for 24 tags. Tie it up with a bow or a piece of raffia, and you have a beautiful gift out of items in your home.

This second gift is wrapped in a map of our hometown. You can pick these up in the different cities that you visit or in different hotels or restaurants. Save them in a folder for wrapping paper and use special areas for the special people in your life.

The gift tag was made out of my business card and then the gift was tied with green raffia. Business cards can be a fun way to tag your gifts to coworkers. Considering many companies overbuy in the business card department, this is a great way to use some of these cards up and also reminds your boss how much he should appreciate your efforts, particularly for large companies where employees and superiors can be a bit more disjointed. Just give it a hole punch and loop it through the ribbon.

Last, but certainly not least, don't forget all of those lovely coloring pages and how useful they can be for wrapping gifts.
Kids love to feel special and they love to contribute towards the making of and the purchasing of the gifts for your family. These scribbled drawings, while not as appealing to the eye as many fancy gift wrap choices, are true beauty to grandparents and other family members.

If you like to have more control over the color choices and such, give your children crayons in your color scheme that you are going for or make suggestions for drawings ("Grandma LOVES snowmen, maybe you could draw her a really special one?").

The gift tag was made from scrap cardstock that I had and then I stamped the tag with the same stamp that was pictured above in my paper bag wrapping job.

Don't forget the other solutions that I have shared on like tailoring your gifts for their recipient and using wallpaper for gift wrap!

I hope this offers some other creative solutions for your wrapping needs! I plan to put this all together into an article for our website for future reference!


***For more great solutions for your family, be sure to visit Rocks In My Dryer for more great ideas for this edition of Works-For-Me Wednesday***

Frugal Hacks: Soup Supper

I don't have a lot of restaurant weaknesses because I enjoy the food we cook from home a lot more, but I have been giving into one weakness recently...Broccoli & Cheddar Soup from Panera Bread.

After ordering it twice in the past month, I knew I needed to figure out how to make this from home and after trying a couple of recipes, I have finally found THE recipe that tastes just like this soup from the restaurant.

If you have a craving for Broccoli & Cheddar Soup, make sure to give this recipe a try and see what you think! I followed the instructions exactly and it was absolute perfection! A bowl of cheesy goodness with a yummy loaf of crusty bread. It reheats well and would be wonderful to entertain with!

In the spirit of good soup and chilly nights, be sure to read my post over at Frugal Hacks about throwing a special soup supper of your own.

Thrifty Treasures: Autumn Container

I found this container when I hit our local Goodwill this past Friday. Saturday was their official half off day, but my husband was going to be gone all day and I was not about to brave the crowds with two little ones to take care of.

Lucky for me, they had discounted their seasonal items down to 75% off the day before their big sale day. This beautiful glass container ended up costing me less than a dollar after I got my discount.

I filled it with marshmallows and placed it on a serving tray along with hot cocoa and freshly popped popcorn. It was a fun treat for a freezing cold evening and a great way to start our weekend. I always try to do a special snack and the marshmallows looked so pretty in this!

I am going to have fun filling it with all sorts of fun goodies and it is the perfect size to be functional, but not take up too much room in our house.

Displaying a Collection

Last week, while we were out running errands, I was listening to a question and answer session on the radio. The question for their listeners was, "What do you collect?" and they had tons of people calling in to share their weird and interesting collections. People called in and shared about their massive beanie baby collection or crazy key chains that they had begun collecting.

The two things that struck me when these people came in were two things that have always bothered me about collections. The first was that the collections were usually started by someone else in their family or by a friend. It started with the love for one particular thing and it became as though everyone in the world now knew exactly what to get them for Christmas. And their birthday. And their anniversary. And to help cheer them up.

The second thing that seemed to resonate with me was that almost everyone who had a collection had it stored somewhere. When asked where they kept their thousand key chains, the listener would say, "In my basement." Other answers varied, but they all boiled down to them being put away in boxes because people didn't have a place for the items or didn't know a good way to display them.

These are the two things that have always bothered me about collecting items (not to mention all of that dusting). I like to enjoy items, but I don't enjoy collecting things unless they are useful and are used in some capacity in my home.

I did become obsessed with collecting one item though and as I tsked-tsked the people that called into that radio show, I realized that I had done the same exact thing. My beautiful apron collection, while worn daily, was becoming a disarray of items that were tucked away in the depths of a pantry closet and were brought out rarely. I love aprons and I appreciate their beauty, but what beauty were they bringing me pushed in the back of a closet?

I went to Target and purchased two bronze hooks. The total cost was less than four dollars and I had my husband mount them on an empty wall in our kitchen. I picked four of my favorite aprons and hung them from the hooks.

I am now enjoying my aprons and the true beauty of them in a much greater capacity than I was before. They make me smile when I see them and each of them was given to me by someone special in my life.

Sound Off: What do you collect and how do you display them? Do you have a collection of something stored away?

MomAdvice Friday: Dyslexia?

My Freebie Friday is not very interactive so I thought it might be fun to do a MomAdvice Friday where you all can share your advice on different issues. People can send questions to me (send to amy@momadvice.com) and I can post them each Friday for our community to answer.

I thought I would get the ball rolling with a question about our son. Ethan has been doing really well recognizing his letters and numbers. I have noticed though that all of his papers have his name written completely backwards. Not just the letters written the wrong way, but written in such a way that if you held it up to a mirror, it would be perfect.

He is five years old and I know that with time, this will hopefully straighten itself out, but I was wondering when does his become dyslexia and what can we do to work towards resolving this problem?

If you have had a child that has done this when did this become diagnosed as a disability or when did this correct itself?

I know nothing about this subject, but I am hoping someone else does.

Help!!!! Please!!!

Freebie Friday: October 19, 2007

Happy Friday, everyone! Please enjoy all your freebies and thank you for coming to my site. Have a wonderful weekend!

Health & Beauty:

Glow After Dark JLo Perfume

Arm & Hammer Toothpaste

GoodNites Boxers

Kleenex Cottonelle Sample

Tampax Pearl

Candies Heartbreaker Perfume

Complaint Free World Bracelet

Jergens Lotion

SkinWear Hand Sanitizer

Aveeno Sample & Seed Packet

Tylenol Rapid Release Tablets

Get a mammogram get a free blow dry and hair cut.

Entertainment:

Complete the survey to receive a coupon for a $1.99 Blockbuster Rental (not free, but cheaper than the normal $4 price tag!)

World Magazine (Eight free issues)

Pumpkin Templates

Arizona Key chain (The form was taking awhile to come up, just be patient. Click on Promos and then "Free Key chain")

Elle Decor Magazine

Avery Wizard Holiday Edition Software

Wake-Up Calls

Home & Garden:

Photo Frame

Fire Safety Video (for entire family)

Amy's Notebook 10.18.07

Make some spiced pumpkin seeds.

Make autumn leaf sun catchers.

I am going to make this Lego Birthday Cake for my son this year.

Throw the perfect first birthday party.

Make your own fabric buttons.

Find a creative way to store your dish soap.

Sew a simple girly skirt.

Boo your neighbors.

Make some yummy apple bread.

Learn how to store your bulk items.

Be a Wrap Superstar: Tailor Your Gift

Last week I started a series of posts on wrapping your holiday gifts. I shared my obsession for beautiful wallpaper and a cute idea for your gift tags.

This week I wanted to talk a little bit about tailoring your gifts for their recipient. This is one way that I do try to make my gifts special because I try to wrap my gifts with the person in mind who is receiving the gift.

Sometimes I tailor the gift to the person who is going to receive it and sometimes I tie the theme into what the gift actually is. It is fun to wrap your gifts this way because it makes it fun for the person who is opening it and it shows that you had them in mind when you wrapped the gift.

The gift shown in this example is for your favorite budget-savvy blogger or someone whose occupation involved the green stuff. The gift was wrapped in the stocks section of our Business paper and the gift tag was made out of a piece of money from a Life board game. Tied in green raffia, to go along with our money theme, this brings it altogether perfectly.

I try to do this often with the elements that I bring into my wrapping. When I go thrift shopping, I look for cute serving spoons or whisks that can be used to tie on the outside of newlywed gifts or for the Foodie in our family. Any small item that can be tied to the outside of the gifts can be great items to add to your wrapping details.

The comics section can be used to wrap children's gifts, Wall Street Journals make great wrapping paper, and foreign newspapers can add a little pizazz to any gifts you are giving.

Best of all, what a wonderful and earth-friendly way to recycle your newspapers!

Sound Off: What special details do you add to your wrapping jobs?

An Inspiring Home Tour

Run over to Miss Monica's website, The Homespun Heart, and check out her pictures from a recent tour of the Martha Stewart homes. It has to be one of the most inspiring house tours because I wanted to do everything in every single picture.

We have tons of projects going on over here and our updates are slow with two children and little money or time. We have high hopes though for the kind of home we would like to create here. These pictures gave me another dose of fuel.

On our to-do list:

Painting our kitchen cabinets- I have decided that I am going to paint them an antique white and do bronze hardware. Currently they are oak and have no hardware so I think this will add some character to these.

We are going to do wainscot in our entryway. It is currently painted chocolate and I think it would add some nice character and pizazz to the entryway. We will also be adding a bench for seating.

We are creating an area in our garage for the kids to take their coats and shoes off. I cleaned out the garage and am finally able to park my car in there (whoohoo!) and now we have room to make our own mud room area. I am putting a bench out there (to take off our shoes) and I got hooks to hang our coats up. This will hopefully clear out some of the clutter and will help prevent all of the tracking in of muddy boots and such.

We are going to do some crown molding in our home.

Our upstairs bathroom needs serious updating- wallpaper removal, painting, new lighting, new fan, new flooring...we pretty much need to gut this room and start all over.

We are going to do wainscot in our family room downstairs. It has a ledge and we are going to do this from that point down.

We would like to do a large family desk (like the one featured in the tour), but an L desk so that my husband and I can work together instead of one person in the office and one person hunched over at the couch. I think we are going to try and build this ourselves.

The list goes on and on and on. Our little home is a big sucker of time and money, but the more we do it to it, the more I am beginning to like it.

Sound Off: What is on your to-do list?

WSBT-TV: Dealing With the High Price of Prescription Drugs

Today on my Moms First segment (with WSBT-TV), I discussed ways that you can save money on those high prescription drug prices. This segment goes along with my articles on The Prescription Lowdown and Going Without Health Insurance.

Catch me every Tuesday morning for a quick dose of motherly advice from our site!

Quick Note: We are experiencing some technical difficulties with our forum and the registration process. The letters for verification are not showing and people are unable to register. I apologize that we are having difficulties and will let everyone know when we have resolved this issue. Thanks a bunch!!

Sound Off: What are some ways that you save on your prescription medications?

The Make-Ahead Thanksgiving Dinner: Appetizers

Thanksgiving isn't far away, but you don't have to wait until the night before to get your Thanksgiving meal ready. Many recipes can be prepared in advance and they can be waiting for you when the big day arrives.

This year I am trying something different. Instead of the frantic cooking the night before (or the morning of), I am going to try and prepare as much as I can in advance for the big day. I am not sure who is planning on hosting our dinners this year, but even if I am not hosting myself, I try to do my part to help with the meal. I thought it would be so nice to have the food waiting for me instead of me waiting for it.

These entries will be an ongoing series until Thanksgiving, and then these will be turned into an article for future reference. If you have ideas for dishes that you can make ahead for the holidays, please email me at amy@momadvice.com and I will include your recipes within the entries.

First, let's began with the appetizer portion of the meal. I think it is so nice to have some dishes for people to munch on while they are waiting for the meal to be prepared. Here are some fun recipes that you can prepare for the big day and store in your freezer until the day before. Double or triple these recipes for a large crowd!

Make-Ahead Thanksgiving Appetizers


Cranberry Spread

16 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup dried cranberries
1/4 c. orange juice

Do-Ahead: Mix all of the ingredients together and mold into a ball or leave loose as a spread. Wrap in plastic wrap, then wrap in foil, and store in a freezer bag. Make sure to label your bag so that you can find it again.

Thanksgiving Day: Let the spread thaw in the refrigerator 1-2 days before Thanksgiving. Place dip in a bowl (or on a platter if it has been molded into a ball) and serve with gingersnaps or crackers.

Italian Meatballs

1 pound lean ground turkey
1 cup bread crumbs
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 egg beaten

Do-Ahead: In a large bowl, combine ground beef, bread crumbs, parsley, Parmesan, garlic powder and beaten egg. Shape into small meatballs and place on a cookie sheet. Bake in a 400 degree oven for fifteen to twenty minutes. Allow them to completely cool and then place meatballs in a labeled freezer bag.

Thanksgiving Day: Allow meatballs to thaw overnight. In the morning, throw meatballs in your slow cooker and dump a jar of spaghetti sauce on top. Cook on low for two to four hours, or until the meatballs are warmed through.

Spinach Balls

2- 10 oz packages frozen spinach
1 package chicken-flavored stuffing mix
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
6 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup butter, melted
Salt & pepper to taste

Do-Ahead: Cook spinach according to instructions, drain in a sieve, use back of a wooden spoon to press the spinach against the sieve to get as much moisture as possible out In a bowl combine the spinach, stuffing mix,cheese, eggs, butter, salt& pepper Mix thoroughly& roll into small balls 3/4 to 1" size. Place on a cookie sheet and freeze.

Thanksgiving Day: To serve place frozen balls on a cookie sheet and bake at 350F 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned If you are doing them fresh or thawed only bake for 7-10 minutes. Serve hot.

Pine Cone Cheese Ball

1 package cream cheese, softened
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Do-Ahead: Mix cream cheese, shredded cheese, and Dijon mustard in a food processor until blended. Shape into a ball and store in your freezer.

Thanksgiving Day: The day before- remove from freezer and allow it to thaw. Shape cheese into a pine cone shape. Stick almond slivers into the cone-shaped cheese in rows, until the ball is completely covered. Cover and refrigerate. Serve with crackers.

Bonus Additions: On the big day you can also add a veggie tray and shrimp cocktail to have out for your guests.


Sound Off: What appetizers do you serve for Thanksgiving Day?

Frugal Hacks: All Things Pumpkin

Today was supposed to be my son's field trip to the pumpkin patch. He had been talking about this for weeks and we had even been doing a countdown to the day when he would get to go to the pumpkin patch.

The morning greeted us with rain and gloomy weather. We received the call that the trip had been canceled, minutes before we were to set out for our day. His little heart was broken this morning and it broke my heart for him. Despite my lack of enthusiasm for braving the elements this morning, I knew how important it was for him.

I promised him that we would take him as a family, provided the weather clears up, and he could pick his very own pumpkin out. He had kept asking if his dad could go with him, on his field trip, but I had explained that he would need to work instead. Now we can all go together as a family and enjoy a day trip together.

A promise of cocoa (with extra marshmallows) when he gets done with school also was helpful in relieving the tears.

In honor of our day at the pumpkin patch, I pieced together anything and everything you could possibly want to know about cooking a pumpkin, decorating a pumpkin, and fun pumpkin projects. You can read more about these ideas at Frugal Hacks. Just visit my entry entitled, "The Great Pumpkin."

Eat Your Heart Out, Martha: Bubbly Magnets

Today I wanted to share a little holiday craft that I have been working on. I have been making some bubbly magnets to go in stockings and as small gifts for those special people in our life.

Remember, I am no Martha Stewart, so any craft that I share is something that a child can do. I am trying to share some little ideas for things that you can make to give for the holidays. Last week I shared my homemade spiced nut mixture and this week I am sharing my magnet craft. Crafting can be expensive, but this craft is affordable and highly addictive!

Supplies Needed:

Flat marbles (These can be purchased at the dollar store or in the floral section of your local craft store)

1/2" or 3/4" Round magnets (These are the most expensive purchase. I believe they are $6.99 for 50 magnets, but you can use the Michael's 40% off coupon in your paper towards this tab)

Modge Podge Adhesive Glue

A small paintbrush

Hot glue gun and glue sticks

Scissors

Pictures for your magnets (you can use photographs, wrapping paper, magazine pictures, scrapbooking paper- anything with a fun design)

Instructions:

Take your marbles and center it over your desired design, just to make sure it will fit perfectly under your marble. Dip your brush into the Mod Podge glue and brush the glue onto your design. Center your marble over the design and stick it to the pattern. Allow the glue to dry for fifteen to twenty minutes. If you are doing more than one magnet, on the same sheet, repeat the process on the paper or move on to your next sheet of paper.

Once your glue has dried, cut around the marbles, as close to the edges as possible. Now take your glue gun and dab a bit of glue on the magnet and attach your marble over the magnet piece. Allow these to dry completely.

Ta-Da! Cute new magnets for your fridge!

Amy's Notebook: 10.12.07

Make a pretty lunch box.

These before and after photos on these kitchen cabinets are really motivating me. Now I just need to convince my husband to go along with another painting project around here.

Make some homemade vanilla extract.

I think this Pumpkin Biscotti would make a great holiday gift.

Never look at your leftovers the same again with Stephanie's great advice!

How cute are these Halloween tins?

Learn the rules of frugality!

Stay warm (practically) for free.

Buy some blackboard paint and make some really cute stuff for your house.

Throw the best autumn party ever!

Wrap your gifts elegantly.

Just One More Year...

My poor laundry hamper has been looking pretty sad these days. We bought this hamper the year that we got married and each year it looks a little worse than the year before.

Somehow the top of the hamper got a tear in it and I noticed weird pieces of fuzzy stuff lurking all over my daughter's room. It appears that someone in our house had now made it a mission to pick out the foam interior and shred it all over their room. I can't say who this person was, but I am pretty sure that I can narrow it down to two little people. It was becoming necessary to replace this item or fix it.

I did happen to have some vinyl fabric leftover from recovering my dining chairs so I thought I could use some of this excess fabric and recover the top of the hamper.

Within a half hour, I had the whole thing apart and had recovered the top with the pretty chocolate fabric.

The hamper is still very stretched out and I doubt I have more than a year before it will be completely worthless, but I bought myself a year to look for a new one while I am at the thrift store. This was completely worth the time and effort and I can't wait to keep my eyes peeled at our stores to find a good deal on a new one.

Operation Foam Destruction has been disabled!

Freebie Friday: October 12, 2007

Health & Beauty:

Free AquaFresh Extreme Clean Toothpaste

Free trial pair of O2 Contacts (this is a coupon that you have to bring into Wal-Mart).

Printable coupon for $5 off (buy a small size to make this a freebie) Tylenol Products.

Carmex

Caress Exotic Oil Infusions

Basis Sensitive Skin Bar

Food:

Free meatball dinner for two from Ikea (Houston location only!)

Free Dr Pepper from Chick-fil-A (you have to enter their promotion and if you lose you still get a Dr Pepper- it is for a limited amount of people so be fast!)

NutraSweet Swirl

Entertainment:

Antiques Magazine

Boating Life Magazine

Go Boating Magazine

Free toy from Toys 'R Us (must be redeemed in store, but no purchase necessary!)

Free movies every week for the month of October (must provide cell phone number to be sent the codes) or you can sign up to be emailed the code (only one code versus four though)


Home & Garden:

Do-It-Herself Workshop (introduction to power tools)