Life on the Road

What a fun idea!  Overwhelmed with Joy brings us the 2nd Annual Holiday Cooking, Blogger Style Recipe Exchange!

This is my favorite recipe for any festive occasion.  It’s an old family recipe from Mississippi (that would be Wolf’s family).  And don’t worry, it tastes nothing like buttermilk!  Maybe we should change the name to Sugar Pie…

Buttermilk Pie

Makes 2 pies

2 1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter
4 eggs
3 Tbsp. flour
3/4 c. buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. coconut extract
2 9″ pie shells

Preheat oven to 400.

Cream butter and sugar thoroughly.  Add flour and eggs, mix well.  Add vanilla, buttermilk, and extract, mix well.  Pour into pie shells.

Set oven to 350.  Bake 1 hour, until pie doesn’t shake.

Tiffany’s notes:

• Depending on your location and oven, this may work best of you cover the edges with shields (or just foil!) to keep them from overcooking.
• We have tried this with many different types of extract in place of coconut.  Although they are interesting, for some reason it just doesn’t have that certain “something.”  Even Wolf, who dislikes coconut in general, prefers it the “original” way.
• Why set the oven to 400, then turn it down to 350 when you put the pies in?  I don’t know…  but it works much better if you do!  (Presumably it has to do with the heat you let out when you open the door to put the pies in, eh?)

I always enjoy read Crystal’s Biblical Womanhood blog, and was really impressed by her last couple of Frugal Friday posts about a $35/week grocery budget for a family of four (even if two of them are tiny!).

So I was thrilled to hear that she’s expanded her “Supermarket Savings” eBook into a whole COURSE!  You can read her description below, and/or CLICK HERE to see the product page and take advantage of the super sale prices she’s offering this week to introduce it.

I got my copy at the First Day price…  Anyone else who takes advantage please let me know in a comment, and we can start a Supermarket Savings Support group! 

——————–

Dear Friends,

Just a quick note to tell you - in a very excited tone of voice! - that our brand-new course, Supermarket Savings 101, is finished, edited, and ready to sell.

We had around 70 participants in the pilot class and it was a wonderful experience. And not only that, but the class participation and input was excellent and helpful in the writing of this course. After some further editing and revisions, the course is now available as a downloadable package.

This course expands a great deal upon my ebook, Secrets to Supermarket Savings, giving more in-depth and step-by-step help for you to reduce your grocery bill. In addition to the large course handbook, this course package includes six audio lessons, six bonus money-saving ebooks, and access to a private members-only message forum.

Since I know all of you want to get good deals and stretch your hard-earned money as far as possible, my husband and I decided to offer a very special deal for this week only.

The retail price of this package is going to be $17.97, but we are starting it out at the rock-bottom price of $5.97 today, Monday, September 3, 2007. Every 24 hours until Friday, September 8, 2007, we will raise the price by $3.00 until it is up to retail price.

Click HERE to order!

Remember, it’s only $5.97 for the next 24 hours and then the price is raised! This is an incredible steal of a deal and even we’re still wondering if we were a little crazy for starting the price out so low!

So, hurry, and snatch up this deal while you can! I promise that you are getting a bang for your buck. And hopefully the things you learn in this course will benefit your wallet for, well, the rest of your life.

Also, if you’d like to let your friends in on this great special, we’d have set up an affiliate program so that you can earn 66% of all sales generated from your link. If you’re interested, just drop me an email and I’ll send you the details. It’s free and only takes a few minutes to sign up for!

Any questions? Feel free to email me and I’ll do my best to help!

Have a wonderful week!

Crystal, for Jesse, Kathrynne, and Kaitlynn
Biblical Womanhood Online Store

P.S. Have you ordered your course yet?
CLICK HERE!

I was recently introduced to a great online resource: The Homemaking Cottage.

Here’s the intro from the site, to give you an idea what it’s about:

Welcome Homemakers!

We encourage, teach and support all homemakers and housewives! How do we do this? With recipes, crafts, and other inspirational articles, eBooks, and our exclusive Deluxe Edition. This website is updated regularly, so always check back in for more!

The women featured here are women just like you- who run homes. We learn new things daily and share them in our articles. Don’t forget to join our Deluxe Edition and enjoy original, longer, and more detailed articles. You may also request articles that you wish to read.

This website is full of information. Relax, spend time reading, learning, being inspired by homemakers just like you!

-Shiloah Baker, homeschooling mother of seven children and happy homemaker!

My confession: When I heard about this, I thought that there could not possibly be that much stuff about homemaking — and certainly not that much stuff that was even remorelty interesting. I guess I wasn’t feeling very June Cleaver, eh? But it turns out to be a treasure trove of interesting tidbits, creative ideas, enjoyable reflections, and more.

There is a ton of information available on the basic (free) areas of the site, and then MORE on the Deluxe Edition (which is a very thrifty $10 for 3 months’ access). She covers every topic from making your own yogurt, to relationships, to getting the most out of your public library, to … Seems like anything a homemaker might want is there! There are a number of different authors who continually contribute new articles, so there’s always something new to look forward to.

The last few articles posted included:
▪Kids Birthday Party Camp-out (picture)
▪Got all the Right Shots?
▪The High Cost of Clutter
▪Simple Ethnic Salads (pictures)
▪Family Reunion Ideas
▪Scented Ironing Water
▪Motherhood (poem)
▪My Hands Make Burdens Light
▪Rounding out Your 72 Kit (picture)

What a neat recource! My only “complaint” is that I want to spend too much time poking around The Homemaking Cottage, and not getting my Homemaking done!

I just got an email from Tupperware that my favorite containers are on sale at 35% off right now… So that makes it an ideal time to tell you about them!

They’re called “Flat Out”

They come in a variety of sizes, and they fold flat for storage, then accordian out for use (and you can open them all the way, or any size in between - see the photos on the left, above).

Let me tell you, in the RV having them store flat is not just handy, it’s a NECESSITY!

I was skeptical at first about the durability of the “pleats” - but we have put them to hard use over the last six months, and they aren’t showing any signs of wear at all. And of course, being Tupperware, they have a Lifetime Guarantee if anything ever did go wrong…

There are a number of sets, but my favorite is the one pictured on the right, above. It’s an 8-cup container (pink), 2 4-cup containers (blue), 2 3-cup containers (green), seals (lids) for all of them, PLUS the cool storage rack that hold all of them (sit on the counter or hang on the wall).

There’s lot of other great stuff on sale right now - it’s “Back to School Sale” time until August 31st. Check it all out HERE…

Hello Everyone!

I haven’t blogged in a while, been really busy, plus we’ve had no internet for a few weeks so I just haven’t had the opportunity. I’m writing this post from Berea, KY in our RV in the Wal-Mart parking lot. In Bowling Green, where we’ve been for a while, we could not get online in the RV. Now that we are in Berea, I can blog all I want to.

I am writing this over a piping hot bowl of Chef Boyardee spaghetti and meatballs. They are very good for the RV because cans of Chef can cost just $1 if they are on sale and there are 2 servings in a can. It is best if you put some pepper in it because it is somewhat bland, and if you have a banana with it to make it filling enough.

I am trying to lose weight and so am on a 2,000 calorie a day diet. I am having 5 small meals a day of 400 calories or less (400 X 5 = 2,000), and half a can of Chef Spaghetti and Meatballs has 270 calories plus about 50 cals from fruit, which is 80 under max which is good because dinner is usually bigger than 400.

Okay, you may never really have given cheese graters a lot of thought, but I’ve just got to tell you how amazing this has been for us.  IKEA calls it “Charm,” in their quaint Scandanavian way.

The grater fits onto the bowl, so you just grate right into it - no slipping around, no searching for a container, no mess.  It has a nice thick rubber ring on the bottom, too, so it stays put on the countertop while you work. 

The compact design is great for in the RV, but I will definately continue using this when we get back to having a house (which may be sooner than we thought, with more little Holleys on the way).

And it’s only $4.99 for the pair…  IF you happen to live near an IKEA store.  That could be tricky…

Okay, #2 is something that may sound equally non sequitur - deli meat!  (You’ll have to click or imagine, as Boar’s Head does not allow copying images from their website.  Sheesh.)

We try to be good stewards, and that includes being thrifty at the grocery store.  When I see two identical-looking hunks of ham (or whatever) in the deli case, I figure I’ll take the cheaper one.

Until one day… 

One day the person behind the counter at Fry’s in Flagstaff, AZ (the best grocery store anywhere) said, “Have you ever tried the Boar’s Head?” (the more expensive stuff).  We confessed that we had not.  She cut us a slice of the roast beef from the store brand, which was quite tasty.  Then she cut a slice of the Boar’s Head, which was…  delicious! 

We’ve since tried any number of the Boar’s Head meats and cheeses, and every one is head and shoulders above the competition.

Sometimes, in fact more and more often it seems to be true lately, you really do get what you pay for…

(By the way, in case you’ve ever wondered, these are NOT “sponsored” reviews, or anything of the sort.  Neither IKEA nor Boar’s Head (nor Cracker Barrel or anyone else I talk about) even knows that I exist.  I just have opinions about things, and I’m not afraid to tell you about them!  (I guess that’s a good thing, for a blogger…))

It’s been a whirlwind of travel in the last couple of weeks.  Nick’s summer camp in Kentucky, family visit in Mississippi, Convention in Texas, back to Mississippi… and now we’re in Memphis, TN!  WHEW!

We’re visiting Wolf’s aunt Erin, as well as his mom and brother who are also visitng here.  The tentative plan is to stay here for at least a little while and work on doing some business in this area.  Lots of providers, so if we can find the right places to target in the suburbs, we should be in good shape.

Wolf has lots of great ideas for kick-starting the business from Convention so we’re looking forward to an exponential increase in our income this year! 

We recently had dinner at Cracker Barrel in Jackson, TN and Jackson, MS within the space of 3 days.  Quite the Jackson-fest!

In Tennessee it was thoroughly average.  Food pretty good, some better than others.  Atmosphere smokey and not too fun.

In Mississippi we enjoyed it much more, and it’s close on the heels of our top picks.  Green dot on the CB rating map, Hooray! 

We had the most delightful experience for lunch on the road Wednesday, I just had to share!

Almost out of Missouri (at last!) we started seeing the billboards for “The Only Home of Throwed Rolls” - Lambert’s Cafe. 

It’s Southern “Country-Style” food - ham steaks, pork chops, fried chicken, and the like.  Drinks served in mugs so huge you could swim in them.  The food was delicious, and we actually enjoyed it immensely all over again as leftovers!

In addition to the huge portions served with your meal, the staff circulates through the restaurant constantly serving the “pass-arounds”: macaroni and tomatoes, black-eyed peas, fried okra, fried potatoes and onions, and yes, “throwed rolls” and sorghum molasses.  There was one server who was clearly the designated roll thrower, and he truly tossed them all the way across the big dining room, to the delight of young and old.

All the wait staff were friendly, helpful, and fun - there was much joking and dancing in the aisles as they served the food.

They were happy to provide a booster seat for Jewel, her milk was cold and fresh (What, you haven’t heard about the milk trials? There’s a milk rant coming!), they had brown sugar (and cinnamon) ready for my baked sweet potato when I inquired, and they met Nick’s bland food pickiness challenge with a tasty burger.

Even when we were packing up our leftovers to go, the staff was offering the freebies.  Where else do you get generousity and service like that?

There are 2 locations in Missouri, and one in Southern Alabama.  Lambert’s is without doubt someplace we’ll look forward to visiting again and again!

Bleaaahhh… This part stinks. Traveling out of one state, across two more, and into a fourth, crossing into two time zones, all in the space of three days… Double Bleaaahhh… Still, there is some good.

If you are ever in Amarillo, TX…wait, strike that… if you are ever within a hundred miles of Amarillo, TX stop at the Big Texan Steak Ranch. They have such good, no, great, no, amazing, no, (insert best descriptor you have ever heard here) that I can’t think of a word that even comes close to describing it, food.

If you like Ranch dressing at all, you must try theirs. I was in ecstacy! I had it with everything! I had ordered a Cheeseburger, side salad, and it came with rolls. I had it on the salad and fell in love. Mmmmmm… I put it on my burger, on the rolls, and bought a jar of it to take home. Double Mmmmmm…

My mama got prime rib and said that the only prime rib that might have ever been better was at Lawry’s in Beverly Hills. Triple Mmmmm… Papa got a steak and said it was the second best he had ever eaten. Coming from him, that was an extreme compliment. Quadruple Mmmm…

And afterwards, they have (insert same as above) fudge and a really, really, really, really, really, really, cool shooting gallery and slot machine setup. They slot machines are only for fun you don’t get money if you win, but it’s still fun.

We were parked behind them in their free lot for RV’s and trucks. It rained so hard that night I thought we would be flooded and be mired in mud. In the morning being alive and not mired we ate at their breakfast buffet. The stuff sitting in the bins wasn’t fabulous, but their fresh made omlettes and waffles were fabulous.

We are in Oklahoma and I am zzzuffering from jet lag zzo I better go to Zzzzz…

We spent yesterday afternoon cruising around Victorville putting out our Save 80% on Dental flyers.  Refreshments were $0.99 Root Beer Floats at A&W.  Wolf’s a root beer fan, and we were both pleasantly surprised by how good A&W on tap tastes.

A quick stop at Staples to buy more colored paper for printing flyers (dental on fluorescent yellow, Tupperware on pink), then back to the RV. 

We had a simple dinner of soup and sandwiches, then we all cuddled up in our bed to watch an episode of “Little House on the Prairie.”  Ah, yes…  THIS is what makes it all so worthwhile!

Nick has a new interactive / video DVD set that he’s enjoying working through for school, so that is perfect for driving. 

Grandma bought Jewel a magnetic “Doodle Pad” before we left, which a great diversion, too.  Jewel pronounces her name as “Doodle,” so it’s a fun double-reference.  She loves telling us to write words, then seeing them in print. 

Well, I was up early, got in my morning devotional and prayer time, had some breakfast, and fired up the generator to get a/c power long enough to post this and check my email, but now it’s time to get ready to get moving…