Friday Feature: Budget Bytes - a great site for saving money and delicious recipes!

I know I haven't had a 'Friday Feature' in a while, but this delightful discovery was too good not to share!

We were going to have a Mexican Chicken soup for dinner this week, but last minute realized that the chicken had passed it's prime.  =(   It was so disappointing!

Once I found out I was "chicken-less", I scanned the fridge and saw a pound of sausage.....so I did what anyone does at 6pm......I hit Pinterest looking for a quick family friendly soup recipe -- and as usual it came through!

Tonight I came across a picture of this delicious Sausage and Kale soup and clicked over to discover it was from Budget Bytes....have you guys heard of this site??
I found Budget Bytes last week when I tried Beth's Chili-Lime Pork Loin......it was fantastic and the leftovers made a delicious stir-fry! 

Recipe #2 was even better!  My family *loved* this Sausage and Kale soup - it even won over my anti-soup hubby!!  And at only $1.05 a serving it was a cheap, easy, delicious, filling dinner! 
*I did make a couple changes, just because of what I had.....I used ground pork sausage instead of sweet, omitted celery because we were out, and I thought I had the can of white beans it called for, but did not.  Not wanting to leave them out completely, I subbed a can of black beans and I can't imagine it was any worse for it!

I asked the kids how they liked it and they all said "Make it again!!".....well, all that speak anyway....Lucas just gobbled it up.  My oldest daughter said it could be dinner almost every night..... = family approved.  =)  


Budget Bytes is going to be a go-to from now on for recipes!  Oh, and besides the tastiness, she also has each recipe and each ingredient broken down by price so you know how much each meal will cost (or an idea at least since grocery prices obviously vary).  And if you want to make a recipe cheaper, you can see which part of it is the most expensive and make sure you get that item on sale or sub it for something cheaper.
Now go on over and check it out!!  =)

Friday Feature: Frugal Family Fun - Disc Golf (or Frisbee Golf)!

When we were on vacation visiting family, we had lots of outdoor fun since the weather was just beautiful!  We visited a few different disc golf courses and had a great time! I was thinking about how inexpensive and family friendly of a sport it is and thought I should tell you about it in case it's new to you!  And it's a great idea for a fun way to finish up the Summer with the family - although it can be played anytime!

Q: What is Disc Golf? (also called Frisbee Golf)
A: "Disc golf is played much like traditional golf. Instead of a ball and clubs, however, players use a flying disc, or Frisbee®....A golf disc is thrown from a tee area to a target which is the "hole". the hole can be one of a number of disc golf targets; the most common is called a Pole Hole® an elevated metal basket.....Disc golf rarely requires a greens fee, you probably won't need to rent a cart, and you never get stuck with a bad "tee time." It is designed to be enjoyed by people of all ages, male and female, regardless of economic status." - from PDGA.com  (Professional Disc Golf Association)

{brother-in-law Mike "teeing off"}

There's a course directory at PDGA.com to be able to find courses near you - they're all over the place and almost always FREE to play at!

DG Course Review is also a great site to find courses and see lots of details about each one....like ratings from users, difficulty, condition, wooded or not, length of course.....etc.


First, we went to one in Newton, IA, called Maytag Park, which the guys seemed to like - but my sister-in-law and I took kid duty at the playground, so I didn't play it myself.  =)

 {*side note: just about the time the guys finished playing, my punkin' here fell down some steps and we had to rush to the ER.....all is well, but it was definitely a scare and a rough way to finish a fun evening!}

The next weekend we went to a couple courses in Ames.  We first tried the Carroll Marty Disc Golf Course at Gateway Hills Park -- we had kids and adults playing with us, and we all enjoyed it!  Each of the 18 holes had an option to start at the "normal" tees, or a more difficult professional tee to be a bit more challenging. 
*We returned to this one a week later and brought more family members because we liked it so much!

When we were done, the guys wanted to check out another nearby course called "Stable Run DGC" at Iowa State University since we were so close.  I was pretty whooped from all that sunshine (and late nights of "vacation"), so I just followed along while they played.  It was a lot less busy than the first one, and they liked it ok, but we all definitely preferred the Carroll Marty course.

{sister-in-law Amy taking a shot}

 {gathering the discs from the basket}

{hubzy's turn}

{this was a challenging hole!  It dropped off where you see the edge there!}

It's such a great and versatile sport...kids and adults love it, it's a cheap date, a great excuse to get some fresh air and exercise, and on top of that it's very inexpensive!  All you need is a disc and you're all set.  A few years ago I bought my husband a 3 disc set for about $20 for his birthday, and he's gotten hours and hours of fun out of that 20 bucks!

Discs are commonly priced anywhere from $7-$15.....you can buy them as individual discs or in sets.  From what I understand there are 3 main kinds of discs - driver, mid-range, and putter. Similar to golf clubs, they each are made for different things - some for short distance "putting", others for long throws....etc.  But, if you're just starting out, you can just pick up a basic disc and it will work just fine.  You can find them at most sports stores like MC Sports and Dick's Sporting Goods or online at Amazon or Ebay with some FREE credit from Swagbucks!  I would think WalMart might even carry them with as popular as the game is, but I haven't looked to be sure.

We're thinking about adding to our starter set and I just found a few cool ones online.....I believe this DX Starter 3-Packset is the same one I bought for my husband and it's only a little more than what I spent (+ shipped free to your house!).  This Innova Pro Katana Disc Golf Driveris very similar to my brother-in-laws' driver I played with most of the course and I loved it!  This Innova Disc Golf Starter Setincludes 3 discs and a disc golf bag to carry your discs in as you play (which I found very handy as my father-in-law had one we all used!), all for just under $40.



We had a lot of fun, with a lot of people, for not a lot of money.....it was a great time!  I'm becoming quite the fan (not necessarily good, just a fan, lol) and highly recommend it! 
It's fun to share bits of our vacation with you......now you tell me.......

Have you ever played (or heard of) Disc Golf?  Where's your favorite place to play?  Any tips, advice or resources you know of?

Friday Feature: Pinterest! The Virtual Corkboard Wonderland!

Welcome to the Friday Feature, where I highlight something that I'm really loving -- but first, let me introduce myself...........
"Hi, my name is Mara and I'm a Pinterest addict."  Seriously, they need a support group!  If you're part of this wonderland already, you know -- and if you don't know what I'm talking about, you must check it out!

It's a virtual corkboard - a place to "pin" all those great ideas, crafts, paint colors, recipes, funny things.....that you come across online.  It's like someone looked in my head and knew that I was wishing for a simple, beautiful, user-friendly place to keep track of all the fantastic things I see on blogs and other places!  (My method of copying a link into a draft in gmail wasn't exactly ideal!)

It's an awesome place just to organize the things that float your boat, or browse others boards and find oodles of inspiration!  I've already come across so many things that I don't think I would've seen otherwise.  You can follow people with similar interests - either their whole collection if you like their overall style, or individual boards -- for example, when their "Living Room" board is full of pins exactly like what you imagine for your own, or when every recipe they post in "Yum yum" is making you drool on your keyboard.

You need an invitation to join, but it's free and fantastic!  Send me your email if you'd like an invite!  And if you leave your "username" I'd love to see your boards.  =)

You can pin whatever images you'd like, and create any boards that you want - whatever makes sense to you....here are some screenshots of my boards:


These are dreams for my laundry room once we get done with the "big" stuff (like siding, roofing, flooring...silly details like that) and can work on the "fun" stuff...

Whenever I come across recipes or decorations that I think would be perfect for our next soiree, this is where they go (sure, 'cause we're so fancy pants that we have soirees)  ;)

I want to create a playroom/art area for the kids in the basement.....and some of these funzies would be perfect for what I have in mind - and some are ideas that I never would've thought of!

Ahh, my "delish" board.....here's where I go to drool!  ;)   I love being able to tuck away tasty treats here, so when I need a yummy dish to pass, or an idea for an awesome chicken dish - tada!  No more...."there's a dessert I saw online that would be perfect for the party - which website did I see that on??"

I created a "to make" board where I keep all the fantastic projects that inspire me to be crafty - so when I get the creative bug (and 30 seconds of free time) I know where the great ideas will be!

Ohhh Pinterest, how I love thee!!

What do you think??  Are you already pinning?  Or are you inspired to go start your own pinboard?  Need an invite, let me know!  I'd love to see your collections!

Friday Feature: Kids Snack Ideas for Summer Break!

During Summer Break, if the kids aren't lamenting about being bored, they're saying "Can I have a snack? Can I have a snack? Can I have a snack?" {that's three of them asking right after one another, lol}

Here are a couple clever ideas for managing the snack monsters while they're home from school - either during Summer vacation, in the afternoons during the school year, or all the time if you're homeschooling!

I love Kristen Duke's idea of having the kids choose what to "buy" for their snacks - check out her blog for a great system to "Streamline Summer Snacking"! 
{Her photography is pretty awesome too!  And I cannot get enough of her Pink Lemonade birthday party!!}

Also, in her comments, I saw this suggestion from Lorie that I thought was a great alternative:

"Fun!! We used to do something similar. Actually the same, just without the fun money. After breakfast the kids would all back up their snacks for the day. They had to pick two healthy snacks (fruit/veggies), one regular snack (pretzels/crackers) and one treat (cookies, etc) and they could eat them whenever they wanted, but when they were gone they were gone. It helped them learn to ration! ;D"

So smart!!

How do you manage the 'snack attacks' at your house??  Do you have any great tips or tricks for keeping the snacking organized or keep it from getting out of control?

P.S. I'm so happy that I actually posted a "Friday Feature" on Friday!  haha!  =)

P.P.S. Make sure to see the BIG List of FREE and Cheap Summer Activities HERE!  Awesome resource for making memories, helping kids have a fun Summer and keeping the "I'm bored's" away.

Friday Feature - Save Money with Dropcloth Curtains!

Wow - the past couple weeks just flew right by!  I missed last weeks "Friday Feature" entirely with all our craziness!  We had an unexpected house guest for a few nights last week and this week, family came up to visit last weekend, family pictures were taken at the beach last Saturday, and we're still working on getting work done on the house for our refinancing deadline......so I've been all kinds of running around!  Oh, and because we were having the pictures taken (by my sweet sister-in-law - who did an awesome job!), I had to cut the two older boys hair since it was out of control!  {I really considered taking them to get it done professionally, but I figured I saved about $30 by doing it myself......but that's another post - coming soon}

Soo, On to the Feature! 

I've been looking for an inexpensive way to put curtains on our windows since we've moved into our house a year and a half ago.......there's a lot of them, and quite a few are big ones, so that can get real expensive, real fast!  So far I'd gotten a mishmash of curtains on sale or clearanced that kind of "go" together, but drive the husband batty!  He's been all but begging me to "get it together" as far as curtains go.  =)  But, I've yet to come across anything that's both affordable and attractive......until now!  

Recently, I've been seeing drop cloth curtains all across the blogosphere and I was very intrigued!  Drop cloths are durable, washable, look like linen, are already hemmed......and they're pretty cheap (I just bought some at Home Depot yesterday - the 6'x9' size is $9.99, and the 6'x12' is $19.99).   I love the neutral color, but it's so versatile and can easily be jazzed up if you prefer - I've seen it done really well with stenciling, ribbon, fabric, paint......lots of options.

Here are a few of my favorite examples that I've found so far.....

{The Lettered Cottage has this beautiful simple version}

{Kimba at A Soft Place to Land added a little color to hers by ironing on some trim}

{And Traci at Beneath My Heart has these beauties in her Dining Room.....}

{.....and, on her patio - l.o.v.e.!}

Who would've thunk??  I love how versatile they are - and how cheap of an option they are!  I'm thinking they'll be a perfect solution to our mishmash problem.  ;)

What do you think?  Love it? Hate it?  Already tried it? Do you have any money saving tips for dressing your windows?



*I'm excited to be starting a regular post here on the blog called 'Friday Feature' where I feature something awesome.  It may be a fellow blogger I admire, or a stand out craft or idea that I come across.  Maybe a recipe or a great tutorial, a wonderful time or money saving tip or trick.  Let me know if you have anything specific you'd like to see as a feature!

Friday Feature - IHeart Organizing!

*I'm excited to be starting a regular post here on the blog called "Friday Feature" where I feature something awesome.  It may be a fellow blogger I admire, like today, or a stand out craft or idea that I come across.  Maybe a recipe or a great tutorial.  Let me know if you have anything specific you'd like to see as a feature!


If you already follow and love IHeart Organizing, you know how fantastic Jen's blog is!  And if you are not aware of IHeart Organizing - you need to be!  It's one of my favorite blogs and I really do heart it!  You can (and I sometimes do) get lost for hours there! 

She has the most beautiful and frugal ideas for organizing and decorating your home - some of my favorites are her awesome playroom, making the most out of a tiny office space, her gorgeous master bedroom, this sweet tray makeover, monthly organizing challenges......and maybe my favorite - this beautiful jewelry organizer (I found a wonderful deal on a frame at JoAnn's and can't wait to make my own! I'll post it when I do).......oh I could go on and on! She also offers beautiful printables to help you get organized - some for free!  Her home is so beautiful and organized and inspires me to use some of her tips and tricks to whip my house into shape!

Jen recently featured a readers recipe binder that I love!  I had dreamed up almost the exact same thing and then came across this post that is encouraging me to actually do it!  I think it will help me in the kitchen so tremendously when I'm trying to plan meals for the fam.  The menu board we made is already helping saving time and money in our meal planning, but having my recipes organized will be so great - saving my sanity as well!  ;)

When you check Jen's fantastic site out, notice that she's currently offering a Silhouette giveaway (until May 23rd, 9pm CT)!  Hop over to her site and enter for a chance to win!