My Favorite App

If you have a smart phone and you enjoy a Starbucks every now and then, you really should have the Starbucks app on your phone. It is one of my favorites and here are a few reasons why:

Oh, but before I go there, to maximize the potential of your Starbucks app usage, you need to join Starbucks Rewards and register a Starbucks gift card. (and even better, if you do this by September 22 they will give you a free drink!!)

So back to why I love the app:

1.) I can pay for my drink with my phone. My gift card - now turned gold card - is loaded onto the app. I can reload the balance with a few button pushes (this gets dangerous) and pay for my drink with ease.

2.) Every time I buy a drink, a gold star shows up in my cup. As a gold card member (you have to earn your way to this status), I get a free drink for every 12 I purchase, plus one on my birthday (this applies to green card members too).

3.) The stars move around when I shake my phone. It's the small things people. 

4.) Every little bit, my Starbucks app offers me a code for a free song download or a free app. Just today, I scored a song from Jack Johnson's newest album. In the past I have downloaded songs from The Lumineers, Ben Harper, and the Civil Wars to name a few. I also got the Sky Guide app for free which is really cool (another favorite). 

5.) If I need to find the nearest Starbucks the app shows me the closest one.

Of all the apps I have loaded on my phone, this is my favorite. You can't beat free drinks, songs and apps. The Starbucks app is a GOOD thing.

Your turn, What is one of your favorite apps?

Pre-Cut Slices

About a month ago I began rummaging through Money Saving Mom's website. Not so much for the money-saving ideas THIS time, but for freezer recipes. I was motivated and ended up making and freezing breakfast burritos, waffles and banana bread. I also made up a batch of homemade baking mix (to replace the Bisquick I normally buy).

(I know that all sounds very Betty Crockerish and maybe even a little Proverbs 31ish. Don't let that one paragraph fool you. My motivation to do more is already waning - after one batch of each- a month ago- and while I would like to say I will soldier on...   we'll see. Although the finished products have come in handy, and it really doesn't take that much time... .)

Anyway, through that perusing, baking and freezing process I stumbled upon a fun little tip. One that most of you will probably think something along the lines of "really, that's your tip, so obvious."  But hey, this is my blog so I'm going to share it anyway.

The tip was this, after you make a batch of banana bread, cut it into slices and THEN freeze it. That way, when you need to, you can pull out a pre-cut frozen slice, stick it in a school lunch, and your kiddos can have a little bit of home-baked goodness for lunch. OR, you can pull out a pre-cut frozen slice, stick it in the microwave for a few seconds and YOU can have a little bit of home-baked goodness.

Revolutionary, I KNOW!

Or maybe not, but either way, it works for me. :)

And since we are on the topic of school lunches, do you have any tips/ideas? If so, PLEASE share!!

Chicago Style Pizza - Homemade

I am not a gourmet cook. I like simple recipes that are relatively quick to pull together. Once I find a recipe I like, it will find its way to our meal plan with regularity. This is one of those recipes. 

It is one of my favorites for homemade pizza. Kory and I both love it. Our kids not so much, but lets face it one pizza won't cut it with our family so that is an easy work around. The other plus is that there are always leftovers for us to enjoy later!

I found this particular recipe in my Taste of Heaven cookbook. Go here to find out how you can purchase one; the purchase benefits Lifesong for Orphans, a win-win.

Here is the recipe:

1 loaf (1 lb.) frozen bread dough, thawed (I use Rhodes whole wheat and thaw it in my 9x13 pan)

1 lb bulk Italian sausage

2 c. Mozzarella cheese, shredded

1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced (as a non-mushroom lover I omit these)

1 sm. onion, chopped

2 t. olive oil

28 oz can diced tomatoes, drain well

3/4 t. dried oregano

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. fennel seed, crushed (I omit this too simply because I never got around to buying it)

1/4 t. garlic powder

1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, grated

Press dough into the bottom and up the sides of a greased 13x9-inch pan. In a large skillet, cook sausage until no longer pink. Drain. Sprinkle over dough, then top with Mozzarella cheese. In a skillet, saute mushrooms and onion in oil until oil is tender. Stir in tomatoes, oregano, salt, fennel and garlic powder. Spoon over Mozzarella cheese; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake at 350 for 25 to 35 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Do you have a favorite homemade pizza recipe? Please share!

Tackling the Paper Piles

Back to School is in full swing and with it comes the MOUNTAINS of paper. And with five kiddos in elementary this year, when I say mountains, I mean it.

I don't remember for sure where I got the idea (as with most things, it is not original with me), but when Mya started school, my school binder started with her. 

This handy book sits on my desk and contains all school-related papers that I feel a need to hang on to for reference throughout the year. School calendars, Lunch Menus, Bus Routes, Class Room Policies, etc. I have a folder for each kid (labeled by room code) and when papers come home that need to be kept, this little binder gives them a place to go to. 

Another way I try to keep the paper under control, is by dealing with it immediately. While my kids inhale an after school snack, I sift through their back packs. Most of the papers go straight to the recycle bin, if I kept even a fourth our house would look like something from the show Hoarders. 

Every once in a while a picture makes it to the bulletin board or is taped to our book shelves for display. If an item has special significance or is just too cute to pitch, it goes in that child's school box. Then at the end of the year we sift through each box and determine what to keep and what to pitch. Again, it gives the paper a place to go. A place that is not my kitchen counter.

These simple systems have been instrumental in keeping the piles of paper that come with elementary kids under control. 

What are some ways you keep the paper piles under control? 

Sanity in the Summertime

Summer is getting away.

If my count is accurate the half way point is only a week away. This thought makes me panic and celebrate and feel guilty for the celebrate and panic again. Panic because time is going way too fast; celebrate because some days feel way too long.

According to my calendar I am nearing the end of our summer's busy season. The second half of summer should be less "going" and involve more free time (at least during the week).

It should include more things like swimming and parks and trips to the library and stuff like that.

Unless I add more things to our calendar. Down time is a very good thing. Too much down time can lead to insanity. The key is to find a healthy balance.

Part of my "summer sanity strategy" this year has been to build in down time of the separation variety. Too much togetherness can also lead to insanity. I have done this in two main ways:

one. We have mandatory "quiet time" most every weekday for an hour after lunch. This is also mandatory reading time for the big kids. Most of the kids are in separate rooms to minimize talking.  I tell them what time they can come down and for the most part they stick to it. They've become more consistent at being still with practice, or maybe the crazy eyes they see from their mother when they are not still has been enough to scare them into submission.

Either way, the quiet in the middle of a loud day is amazing.

two. One morning a week a sitter comes to our house and I leave. I rarely use this time for errands; instead I use it to exercise and do things that fill my often depleted tank, this typically takes the form of a table at Starbucks to read, or write, or stare off into space and think.

These two strategies have truly been sanity-saving. I love my kids. I love having them home in the summer. I love enjoying down time with them.

But, as previously mentioned, too much togetherness can lead to insanity, which is good for no one. A little strategic separation in our house has been a very good thing.

The Dinnertime Chore Wheel

I first saw this little gadget in a friend's kitchen. Two paper plates joined together to allow maximum spinage. It didn't look hard to make, I had the supplies on hand so I gave it a whirl (literally and figuratively speaking). The results have been legend...ary. 

Pictured above is our version of the dinnertime chore wheel (once Zak gets a little older he too will get to partake in the fun, maybe "empty dishwasher" will be the chore that gets added with his name).

It has worked like a charm. We spin it once a week (technically we move everyone up one chore). The chore by your name is the chore you are responsible for. It has reduced complaining. It has reduced "not fairs." It has almost eliminated, "I always have to..." It will remain a part of our dinner chore tradition for a long time to come.

Simple and effective, it works for us. Maybe it would work for you too?