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  • Family Movie Night on the Cheap

     

     We have a family movie night once a week. The kids look forward to it every week. Most of the time we either rent a movie or watch one on demand through our cable subscription; other times we go to the theater and watch a movie there. I’m sure everyone is aware at the cost of going to the movies, these days. Even if you go to the early showing, ticket prices can be $6.00 per person, and if you go after 6:00 pm, it can go up to $9.00 or more! Forget seeing a 3D movie, because you’ll spend an extra $2.75 per ticket for the privilege. Figure this price for a family of 5, and you’re spending around $50.00 just for the tickets. Of course, you can’t go to the movies and not get popcorn and something to drink, so figure in another $20.00 or more! You’re simple evening of going to the movies is costing around $70.00, and you haven’t even had dinner!

  • Breakfast and Behavior

    Question:  What’s the difference between cereal and pastured eggs cooked in butter and coconut oil, for breakfast?

    Answer:  My four year old son’s behavior.

    For many reasons, including nutrition and cost, I decided that cold cereal wasn’t worth buying.  First, most cold cereal goes through an extrusion process, contains tons of refined sugars and flours, and has synthetic vitamins put back in to replace the vitamins that have been stripped away in the beginning; even the so-called “healthier” cereals that I bought.  (Btw, organic cold cereal can be just as bad as the conventional stuff).  Cereals are really convenient and take no time to prepare, just three little steps:  get bowl, pour cereal, pour milk.  For busy families, this seems like the easiest thing to do.  And, especially in the mornings, we are a very busy family! (more…)

  • Flavored Rice – Forget the box!!

    I know this post is written out of order.  The previous post requires this recipe, and it’s better late than never, right?  So, here goes…

    My kids love flavored rice.  And, admittedly, so do I.  The only problem, though, is that most of the stuff you get from a box has all sorts of not-so-good things included, such as msg and corn syrup!  The good news is that it is really easy to make your own flavored rice from scratch, without a lot of extra work.  And, the taste is so much better than from a box, you’ll never go back. (more…)

  • Egg and Rice Cakes – My kids’ new favorite snack

    I love to make chicken stock.  It’s so good for you and is a very important part of any healthy diet.  The only problem I find is that my kids just don’t want to drink it straight all the time.  They will have a 1/2 cup now and then, but not every day.  So, the trick is to find other ways of getting it in them.  One of their favorite ways to have broth (well, they don’t actually know that they are eating broth) is to make flavored rice.  I quit buying boxed flavored rice a while ago, so I came up with my own recipe. (more…)

  • Announcing A New Message Board

    I am so very happy to announce that I have a new message board for my blog. Please check it out and introduce yourself!

    GinnyV Message Board

  • You Can Make Green Bean Casserole with NO Cans!!

    Green Bean Casserole is a holiday favorite in our house. I’ve been making it for years and don’t plan to quit making it any time soon. The only problem with the recipe on the back of the can is that, it’s a recipe on the back of a can! It looks something like this: Mix one can of cream of mushroom soup with green beans, add a little milk and Worcester sauce, some canned fried onions and mix. Then, top with more canned fried onions. In the past, I never really thought much about it. The ingredients went into my cart at the store and got mixed together at the house. (more…)

  • Confessions of a Recovering S.A.D Eater

    I have a confession. My diet and eating habits have been less than spectacular. Shocking, I know. As most Americans that were born and raised here, I grew up eating Rice Krispies, Pizza Hut, McD’s, and all sorts of candy while washing it all down with a can or bottle of soda or glass of Kool-aid. Not everything I ate seemed so bad for me; my Gram made lasagna, baked steak and salads and my mom made goulash, tater-tot casserole and porcupine meatballs. Sometimes, there was even a salad made from iceberg lettuce, carrots and cucumbers. (more…)

  • Happy New Year!

    Happy New Year! (a day late)… I was going to post yesterday, but I was having such a good time relaxing and enjoying being home again. We went to Texas for Christmas and visited a ton of family. It was a really good time, except for my “baby” being sick most of the time.

    We’d been planning our vacation for a few months, had most details in place and our route set. Of course, the two months prior to this vacation were probably the busiest months we’ve ever had! I was finishing up with my student teaching and working on my Capstone Project, plus trying to be mommy to my kiddos…it was crazy busy and I didn’t know how it was all going to work out. (more…)

  • Real Food

    I really love Real Food by Nina Planck. She has such a great writing style, it was easy to read the entire book very quickly. One of the best parts of Real Food is the indepth research and wonderful references that Nina has included. I lent my copy of the book to my mom, who finished it in under a week, despite her incredibly busy schedule. Since she still has my copy, I am going to wait to do an indepth review of the book, at this time. But, since it was requested, I am including a link to where Real Food can be purchased.

    Disclaimer: I am now an Amazon affiliate, although I wasn’t when I wrote this post.
     

  • Sorry for all of the confusion! And a new web-address!

    I had decided to move my blog over to wordpress, which seemed to be working out fairly well. However, after some emails protesting/questioning the move, I am back at my “old” home. I will not move my blog to wordpress and you can continue to read this blog right here. I may make some changes in the appearance, but rest assured that everything else will continue on here.

    And an announcement! I have purchased the domain www.ginnyv.com! I’m very excited about this, especially since it will bring you right to my blog. Please change/update your bookmarks, if you’ve got one. Thanks!! 🙂