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Earth Day 2020

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Earth Day 2020

Disclosure: Affiliate links included. How do you celebrate Earth Day? Many events over the years have occurred at elementary schools. Most of us are staying at home this year for Earth Day and won’t necessarily be able to celebrate. Earth Day is always a reminder to me that I need to be recycling everything I can and using natural and eco-friendly products as much as possible. Over the years, efforts to recycle have gotten easier as there are more recycling drop-offs where we live. There are also more ideas for re-using items that we might dispose of. Upcycling has become popular and vintage is cool! At our home, we’ve been switching from plastic food storage to glass. All of my canisters were plastic a few years ago. Now, all my flours, grains, and dry ingredients are in glass. We purchased glass containers for left-overs, too. Reducing the plastic in your home is good for the environment. Using natural home cleaners are a huge way to improve the air in your home and preventing harmful chemicals from touching your skin. I’ve switched cleaners to use more natural products. I like using Seventh Generation and other green cleaning brands. I love shopping at Grove because they are saving over 1,000,000 lbs of plastic this year and planting 1,000,000 trees by 2022. To top it all off, Grove will be completely plastic‑free by 2025. Earthday.org offers some great tips for Earth Day and everyday: Plant a tree Join a park clean-up Use non-toxic cleaning products Recycle clothing, glass, plastic, and paper Carpool, ride a bike, drive hybrid or electric car, or take public transportation Online billing and payments save paper Use reusable shopping bags and travel mugs tons more ideas on the website Are you looking for ideas for your children for Earth Day? Here are 50 activities for children that you can try on Pinterest. National Geographic for Kids offers a ton of ideas and games for Earth Day. Here are another 50 great ideas for kids from Little Learning Corner. However you look at Earth Day, I hope it is a healthy day for you and your family. @2020, copyright Lisa Ehrman

Being Intentional In Quarantine

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Many of us who are living a frugal and simple life are a little more prepared for the quarantine life. But, without the ability to be out and shop for great deals, it’s still tough. As we all work together to protect ourselves and our neighbors, we have to be intentional in this quarantine life. With our pantry either filled with staples or missing some of the items that we wanted to purchase, we are all trying to be frugal and creative in meal preparations. I’m turning to recipes that provide one-pot meals and are balanced. I’ve chosen to alternate meat meals with no-meat dishes. On the no-meat days, we get protein with beans, nuts, or eggs. This keeps the freezer from getting empty faster, saves money, and limits shopping trips. We’re also getting groceries delivered, but many items are out-of-stock. Soups are one of the best ways to make easy, frugal, and comforting meals for the family. Adding whatever veggies that you have with a wonderful broth is delicious. Some days I may add chicken or beef, and somedays plenty of beans can be the protein. We also love to have breakfast for supper. Last night we ate eggs, home-made muffins and a chicken-sausage link. It was delicious and very filling. I usually love to have a salad with my meals, but we’ve been skipping the loose leaf lettuce. I prefer to get food that is a little less open to germs. We haven’t gotten bored at our house, but many of you probably have a problem with boredom. My family is full of introverts, so we love being home with a good book or tv show. In our city, there are no open libraries. But, if you have an e-reader or e-reading app you can continue to find plenty of reading material. We also love to find good tv shows or movies. Amazon Prime, Netflix, or Hulu offer endless material! Skip the sad shows and get a few laughs with some comedies. If you’re like me, you enjoy a great documentary, too. Texting, skyping, zooming, or whatever you like to use is a great way to stay in touch with all of our loved ones. Two of my children are very far away and I worry about them and miss them terribly. I’m sure that you are also staying in touch with lots of calls! Without the gyms being opened we all need to be a little more creative with getting exercise. Do you have any home gym equipment? If not, try some old-fashioned calisthenics. But, you can also find exercise programs galore on: Youtube, Amazon Prime and more. What’s your favorite? I love Amazon Prime, because of the huge variety! If you’re alone and want to keep your fingers busy, pull out some hand-sewing, crochet yarn, or knitting. This would be a great time to try and learn a new craft. Pinterest has tons of ideas for creative projects. I love old-fashioned puzzles, too. Many great game apps are available for free on your phones or tablets. Board games can be dusted off and played for hours of laughs with kids and adults alike. Teaching yourself a new recipe, cooking technique, or getting kids involved in the kitchen can also be fun and fulfilling. If you can’t find a particular item for your recipe, try something new or make up your own recipes. You may find a brand-new favorite! Self-care is a very important way to make sure that you feel well mentally and physically. Be careful to get enough sleep and stay hydrated. Eat as healthy as possible. Take a spa day. Enjoy a soothing bath with essential oils or bubbles. Deep-condition your hair and give yourself a manicure and pedicure. Praying and meditating are ways that you can restore yourself spiritually. We have family prayer-time and it’s a wonderful and peaceful time to remind ourselves of God’s love. Doing things for others is also beneficial to everyone, including yourself. What is your favorite tip to share? During this time, we should stay united in the goal to decrease every case of the virus. Helping our health-care professionals by staying home is worth it to those of us who can. I hope and pray that you all stay safe and healthy. @2020, copyright Lisa Ehrman

How To Update Your Spring Cleaning Plan

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Spring is right around the corner and the internet is abuzz with tips and hacks to follow for Spring Cleaning. You’ll find help all around to see how much deep cleaning you can get done in a week, or even a day. When I read many of the ideas it is exhausting to even think about. I prefer to update my Spring Cleaning plan. The first thing I will tell you about Spring Cleaning is: I hate it! I know it’s a great tradition and we should follow our great-grandmothers in cleaning every square inch of our homes, but I think it’s an antiquated process. Most women and families aren’t able to devote the time needed to clean the house from top-to-bottom in a short stretch of time. With working schedules and outside activities keeping us busy and tired, Spring Cleaning just isn’t practical. I prefer a more simple approach: A Yearly Cleaning Plan. With a Yearly Cleaning Plan, every chore in my home can be planned out over the year’s time. Nothing will be left un-done, but I won’t feel the pressure to accomplish a ton of work in the Spring. I know that some people prefer to get it over within a week or so, and that’s fine. But for me, I could never make that work. I learned about planning my cleaning chores over the year’s time by reading books from Emilie Barnes. Her books described a more simple way of cleaning my home. Cleaning isn’t fun for anyone, but why would we want to add more stress to our lives. Simply Organized was the first book by Emilie Barnes that I read. I read more of her books through the years, and they were all excellent. This book can be found for sale on used book stores, such as Thriftbooks and Alibris. The book is small and very easy to understand. Of course, the book describes a simple way to live an organized and beautiful life. Cleaning tasks are organized by how often they should be repeated. Tasks are broken down by category and placed on a master plan. I love a master plan, because then I can see the big picture as well as the details. I’m so excited to let you know that I’ve created a free Cleaning Planner to help you plan your cleaning. You’ll be able to download and print out all the pages that help you to get on top of your cleaning tasks. I hope that you’ll consider a different way to approach cleaning and avoid the guilt of Spring Cleaning. If you enjoy the tradition, the free planner can still help you to organize your tasks. What are your thoughts and plans? @2020, copyright Lisa Ehrman

9 Ways To Survive The Last Month Of Winter

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Disclosure: Affiliate link included. With one month left until the beginning of Spring, many of you are counting down the days. In reality, many of us won’t see any sign of Spring weather in four weeks. Winter weather continues in many areas of the country far longer than the first day of Spring. What to do until the warm weather comes? I personally love living in the midwest, where we have 4 real seasons. I love cold weather and don’t want to see the humid summer come any quicker. But, for now, we still have bitter cold days and the occasional snow. What to do to survive the last few weeks of winter? Get great winter gear on sale Many stores are marking down coats, gloves, hats, and more during the Winter clearance sales. If you need or want a new coat this is a great time to save half-price! Stores want to get rid of all the heavy inventory, because they bring out spring apparel very early. You could be the winner! Do something fun outdoors If you love winter sports, this is a great time to get outdoors! You can schedule snow-skiing, ice-skating, cross-country skiing, or hiking. You may be able to find some last-minute deals, too. If you want to get outdoors in a warmer climate, plan your visit down south. Try out some new recipes If you’ve gotten in a winter cooking rut, it’s a great time to try a few new recipes. Look for some great Instant-Pot or slow-cooker recipes using seasonal vegetables. Bring out some of your least-used cooking gadgets and use them. I’m sure that your family would love a warm and hearty meal that is different from what you normally prepare. If you’re snowed in, have a family night Every night may seem like family night, but soon the days will get longer and the kids will be outside in the daylight hours. For now, bring out a fun board game or puzzle. Your family can enjoy hours of fun, along with a big bowl of popcorn. Movie nights are always fun, too. Change something When I get stir-crazy or get sick of how my home looks, I move the furniture. I love re-arranging the furniture! Even if it looks weird, and I have to move it back in a few days, it’s fun and energizing. It’s always hilarious to see the surprised looks on your kids faces when they get home. Finish your winter bucket list Go ahead and look. Did you get anything checked off your bucket list? If you’re a little behind, find something on the list to complete. You’ll have fun and feel a great sense of accomplishment. Let your kids help you plan a special Saturday activity Sounds scary, doesn’t it? No, you’ll have a great time if the kids have a say-so in planning a fun afternoon event. Go ahead and make those family memories that are worth more than you know. Dust off the china How about using your china or best dishes for family meals once in a while. Your family will feel special when you serve any basic meal on your best dishes. Light a candle or two and dim the lights. What good are those dishes if we never use them? Have an indoor picnic Now, you’ll want to do things like this when your children are young. When they get to be tweens and older they’ll think that this is lame. You can serve picnic foods on a blanket in the living room. Pretend like you’re outside (without the ants) and enjoy being a little silly. So, don’t count down the days until Spring. Just try something to help you love Winter. And, enjoy those last few weeks. @2020, copyright Lisa Ehrman

Do You Like Free Food?

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Free Food

My family loves food. I really like free food. We’ve been getting free food from Kroger for years by simply using the Kroger REWARDS World Mastercard. We’ve also saved tons of money on our gas purchases. I’m excited to share how much I love this card! Let me tell you what I love about this credit card and how it has saved my family thousands of dollars. If you have a Kroger store (or Dillons, Bakers, etc) nearby, you’ll probably already know about the great discount features there. Kroger loyalty cards give you all the savings in the store that cut money off of your receipt. Using the Kroger website, we always click and load the Digital Coupons onto our card. Then, at checkout, the ecoupons are automatically added….money saved without clipping any paper coupons. Points that are earned on our loyalty card will also get us cents-off-per-gallon at the Kroger Fuel centers. These are conveniently located in the Kroger parking lot. I also love getting the custom coupons in the mail that match what we purchase often. Kroger sends recipe pamphlets in the mail, too. These have super paper coupons. New product coupons also come right to my home. Using the Kroger Rewards World Mastercard works to help my family by: 3 points for every dollar spent in Kroger for Kroger brands (including Simple Truth, Home Brand, and Private Selections). 2 points for every dollar spent in Kroger stores 1 point for every dollar spent anywhere Earn FREE groceries with a rewards check, sent automatically from Kroger, 4 times a year. Receive additional 5¢ fuel discount at Kroger Family of Companies Fuel when you pay with you Kroger REWARDS World Mastercard. We love when the Kroger checks come in the mail. We have $170. in free food checks this quarter! Wow! This is really super for our budget. @2020, copyright Lisa Ehrman

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