Paper Plate Crafts

I like to do crafts with my kiddos. They love it, I enjoy it, and we have good times together. There are so many things you can do with el cheapo paper plates. You can cut a triangle out of it for a fish mouth and put that piece on the end for the tail. You can staple two plates together with noodles in the middle for a shaker instrument.  You can glue noodles on them. You can make masks out of them.  And the list goes on and on. AND you can get a BIG stack of them at the dollar store.

Bake Bread

I make my own bread. After noticing that even the "good bread" had ingredients in it that I didn't understand I took to baking my own bread.  I use the Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Baking cookbook for my soft whole wheat bread but you can do online searches for free recipes as well.  This is not only healthy but it is inexpensive too.  And it doesn't take as much time as you think it does.  I spend maybe 10 minutes letting my KitchenAid doing the kneeding and then it's a mater of moving it from the bowl to the pans when it's done rising and into and out of the oven. Easy peasy right?! The "hard part" is planning a little so that you have time to let the dough rise. But you can still do things around your house while it's rising! You can even go for a walk or play outside with the kids if you want. The dough will still be there!

Omma Brand Shout Out

I have a confession, I dislike cooking. I love to bake. I could bake all day (ok, I have actually done that). But I just find cooking to be such a chore.  That's why I love to use my slow cooker! And why I love to make big batches of whatever I do cook and freeze a portion of it for next week.  It's like making two meals at once!

And I have to give a shout out to http://onceamonthmom.com/ who has great slow cooker recipes that you can freeze.

You need gluten free and dairy free? She has it.

You need baby food ideas? She has it.

You need vegetarian meals because you are vegetarian or are just trying to save on meat costs? She has it.