Singing Sunday--What Faith Can Do

What Faith Can Do
by Scott Davis & Scott Krippayne
sung by Kutless

Everybody falls sometimes
Gotta find the strength to rise
From the ashes and make a new beginning
Anyone can feel the ache
You think it's more than you can take
But you are stronger, stronger than you know
Don't you give up now
The sun will soon be shining
You gotta face the clouds
To find the silver lining

I've seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn't ever end
Even when the sky is falling
And I've seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That's what faith can do

It doesn't matter what you've heard
Impossible is not a word
It's just a reason for someone not to try
Everybody's scared to death
When they decide to take that step
Out on the water
It'll be alright
Life is so much more
Than what your eyes are seeing
You will find your way
If you keep believing

I've seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn't ever end
Even when the sky is falling
And I've seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That's what faith can do

Overcome the odds
You don't have a chance
(That's what faith can do)
When the world says you can't
It'll tell you that you can!

I've seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn't ever end
Even when the sky is falling
And I've seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That's what faith can do
That's what faith can do!
Even if you fall sometimes
You will have the strength to rise

Weekly Shopping Trip--Savings $18.46

Payday was yesterday, however, the area sales this week were not that great. So I decided to stick to the minimums and get what was needed.  Amazingly, I ended up not using any coupons this week and still saved money! I am still dealing with decent stockpile so I used up what I had on hand.  Hopefully next week there will be some decent sales because I getting low on meats and with a family who likes their meat and starches I can't use up all the meat without getting some more in the inventory.

I had a gift card to use at Meijer due to taking back an extra pack of work gloves that was not needed for at the service project that my hubby did over the Christmas holiday.  So I used that $5.08 card to help pay for the groceries I purchased this week.

Here is what I purchased this week to get me through the week:(the picture below is the Meijer run missing the milk!)

Meijer:

• 4 dozen eggs $5.66
• 3.03 lbs ground beef $6.03
• 2 bags breaded chicken tenders $7.98
• 3 gallons milk $6.00
• 4 Meijer brand pizzas $10.00
• 2 lbs shredded hashbrowns $2.00

Total OOP after using a $5.08 gift card: $32.59

Total Savings (including the gift card): $14.88

Total without sales, and gift card: $47.47

Family Fare: 

• 2 lbs bacon $5.00
• 24 double rolls Northern TP: $12.70 (with sales tax)

Total OOP with sales tax: $17.70

Total Savings: $3.58

Total without sales:  $21.28


Grand Total OOP: $50.29
Grand Total Savings: $18.46
Grand Total without sales & gift card: $60.75


This post is linked to:

• Coupon Super Savers at Coupon Saving Game!
• Super Savings Saturday at MoneySavingMom!
• Shopping Round Up at The Grocery Cart Challenge!

Baking Plan for February

If you haven't heard, MoneySavingMom and Fishmama are hosting another Freezer Cooking Day over the weekend!  I am excited because I actually am feeling inspired to do some baking! I have several items in my pantry that are close to their expiration date so taking the time to use them up in baking up some things for the freezer is the best solution!

My family is not much for "freezer meals" so I do up the majority of our meals fresh. However, I do bake ahead quick breads, muffins, cakes, cookies, and breakfast foods(like waffles, pancakes, Mom's McSandwiches). It is great to have these items on hand rather than spending the money for the convenience of buying them at the grocery stores.

When I do up my baking plan I factor in a few things:

1. I make up the plan to cover the whole month.
   
   
2. I take more than just one day so I divide it up into how many days I want to work at baking items.
   
   
3. I have to be very aware as to the number of eggs I have compared to the number of eggs in each recipe.  I don't have enough room in my fridge for all the eggs at once so this helps me to know when I need to have an "egg bounty" on hand. 

Here is what I am planning on baking during the month of February.  The number next to each item is amount of eggs in each recipe. The list is also in no particular order.

1. Cinnamon Rolls (2)
2. Banana Muffins--without nuts (4) & with nuts (4)
3. Pancakes (3)
4. Whole Wheat Belgian Waffles (2)
5. Zucchini Muffins (3)
6. Pumpkin Choc. Chip Muffins (4)
7. Double Choc. Muffins (2)
8. Orange Juice Muffins (2)
9. Honey Oatmeal Bread (0)
10. Choc. Chip Coffeecake (3)
11. Peanut Butter Cupcakes (3)
12. Brown Sugar Biscuit Twists (0)

I also am planning on making some cookies for the freezer. I have several Betty Crocker cookie mixes(double chocolate, sugar, peanut butter, and oatmeal) that I got on the cheap that I need to use up this month. I usually do a couple of mixes at a time so it takes 2 eggs each batch.  I am going to also try to get some Snickerdoodles made this month as well. 

This post is linked to:

• Freezer Cooking Day: The Plan at MoneySavingMom!

Tackling Those Stacks of School Papers!

Do you have stacks of schoolwork papers like this around your home?? It is getting to that time of year where we need to start thinking about what we need to keep of that stack of papers from our school year. If you are like me you have saved every paper so far that your child has done over the course of the year, hence having the huge stacks of papers! Well I am here to tell you that you do not need to save every paper!

Here are some steps to decrease those paper stacks:

1. Start with saving the items that you will need to meet your state’s requirements. Each state has different requirements/laws that need to be followed in regards to what you need to keep of your child’s work. If you don’t know what your requirements are, take the time to check out theHomeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) website. They have a great, easy-to-navigate page of all the states’ requirements. In my state there are no requirements, or accountability to a school district, along with no record keeping that I need to do to homeschool my children. However, I have taken the approach of putting together a notebook/portfolio for each child for each year that I “officially” homeschooled them. So if the laws change in my state or I move to another state, I have some kind of proof that my kids were doing school.
2. Go through and divide your stacks into the different school subjects.This will give you some idea as to what exactly you have in your stacks. You might find that you only have one or two papers on a certain subject so those papers will go into the “keep pile”.
3. Go through the stacks individually and find the best, the okay, and the not so good work of your child. This way you can have a sampling of your child’s progress to date. Remember you don’t have to keep every paper!Also, I found that doing this type of paper sorting in the middle of the year helps me to know what things I might need to go back and review with my child. As you weed through the stacks, look for the following:
   
   • Writing samples, like a copy of the thank you notes they wrote after the holidays
   • Basic math problem worksheets
   • Tests that you might have given your child
   • Awards or certificates that your child has earned
   • Brochures or program fliers from field trips that your child has done
   
   
4. Recycle or throw away all the rest of the papers that you are not keeping! REMEMBER you do not need to keep ALL those papers! It will feel so much better not to have all that paper clutter hanging around your house.
5. Put your “keep paper pile” into a three ring binder or a box. Putting it all in one binder or box will help you see that you are accomplishing something with your child. It also can turn into a “show book” for your child to show others (like relatives) their work.

Once you are done going through the stacks of papers, take the time to evaluate things, and if you find that you do not have papers for certain subjects, make a note of it in a journal now so that you can either work it in to your child’s schooling or find those “stray” papers or photos of your child’s work or activities that you might have put somewhere else.

Getting this jump start on your school paper stacks will help you as the time draws near for you either to turn in a portfolio to an evaluator or just to move on to the next school year’s work. It also will help you to eliminate those piles of paper clutter and give you a feeling of accomplishment.

Happy Sorting!

**this post was originally published as one of my contributing articles at Happy to be at Home!

Carrots as Sweetener

What is one of the most healthiest foods? Carrots!! They are rich in Vitamin A. Carrots are one of my kids' favorite foods. They love to take them out of the fridge and snack on them hence my love for going to Aldi's and getting a 1# bag of the baby carrots for 69 cents!



Did you know that you can use carrots as sweetener instead of adding sugar to your foods? Since my kids love them it is easy for me to add them to different dishes. Although I have a few that would rather eat them raw than cooked!


I love to add shredded carrots to my tomato based dishes. I could just chop the carrots up but I have several who don't like seeing chunks of veggies, especially in their spaghetti sauce. To add the extra vitamins along with sweetening the dish, I shred the veggies that I am going to put in my tomato based dishes. When I am doing spaghetti sauce in my big 6 quart crockpot that I fill about 3/4 full,  I added about 6-10 baby carrots to my sauce. I find when I shred the carrots as the dish simmers the carrots pretty much disappears leaving me the nutrients in the sauce and no chunks for my picky eaters.

Also adding the carrots to the tomato based sauces helps to neutralize the acid from the tomatoes. I have found that when I add carrots to the sauce I do not have near the problem of heartburn or feeling ill than when I forget to add the carrots.

Adding carrots to tomato based dishes for my sweetener and added vitamins works for me!