keinanna

Yay i look forward to it! I have no space to work on my minis so thats the only other thing i can do to relax. I only just got my internet set up here its nice to be back online for a change

I just got this for my birthday if anyone wants to exchange friend codes pm me i would love to play with others

If you are any good at sewing costumes can be made cheap!! I used black lining material which can be found very cheap and made a gown then found some sheer black fabric in the discount bin which i used for long flowing sleeves and used a small amount of black tulle fabric along the neck line which sticks up at my shoulders. I also found a cheap pair of black fairy wings at the dollar store which i sewed onto the dress to be a dark fairy costume it looks awesome i am so proud of it and very excited to wear it

If you borrow from the sandbox be sure to wash it first who knows who uses that as a litterbox

Happy thanksgiving!!! I cant wait until sunday so i can have turkey!!!!

When i lived off of $50 a month for groceries i always made a monthly meal plan i followed it pretty strictly so that meals were planned to last several days and we did not end up eating the same thing day after day. If you do the planning before you shop and stick to the list it can be very easy to save money.

1. What is the favorite Halloween candy? Candy corn 2. What is the favorite costume? Fairy 3. What is the scariest costume you have ever seen? a zombie with prostetic organs that looked real hanging out 4. What is the scariest Halloween movie? nightmare on elm street 5. What is the favorite Halloween activity? trick or treating/ decotaring for halloween 6. What is the best Halloween decoration? i love my fog machine that is shaped like a cauldron and has led lights to make the fog look green 7. At what age do most people stop trick or treating? you are suppossed to stop? I never did stop so i dont know. I have gone out every year trick or treating in costume people kinda looked at me weird when i was 39 weeks pregnant out in a costume trick or treating but did not dare argue with the pregnant woman 8. Name a Halloween cartoon.the great pumpkin charlie brown 9. Name an activity done at a Halloween party? Tell ghost stories 10. Name a Halloween song? monster mash

for meat loaf i use a small amount of crushed chili pepper, chopped fresh garlic, oregano, oatmeal and v-8 juice. It makes a wonderful moist meatloaf that has a lot of flavor. I dont cook much with barley but if you go to http://allrecipes.com you can do an ingredient search and find recipes that call for barley and they are user rated which is a good way of weeding out bad recipes. I discovered an excellent cheap meal one night by experimentation when i had nothing to make for supper one night. It is a crustless quiche which had eggs, flour, milk, cheese, sandwich meat cut into small strips, bacon bits onion and garlic. I made it in a deep casserole dish and has become a very popular meal in my house. stew and dumplings is another meal i make when money is tight and i have almost no food in the house. I find that making large quantities of things like soups , stews and chili are a great way to save money because you can freeze it in portions for later. so one meal that maybe had cost $10 to make can then be spread out over 4-5 meals feeding a family of 4-5 for sometimes $2 a meal I bake a lot of my own pies and bread which is another way to use up leftover stews make some pie crusts in mini pie pans fill with stew cover with more pie dough and bake for a nice meat pie. I will have to try to think of more things to make on a budget. I do it all the time many of my meals cost $5 or less to feed my family which used to be of up to 6 depending on how many of my ex's kids were over for supper. Before i had my daughter i lived with a man who did not have a job so i was forced to be on a very tight budget as my 4 jobs hardly paid the rent. Our food budget was $50 a month and we never went hungry and ate pretty healthy too! I have no idea how i managed it to be honest but i made it work. I find the less money i have the more inventive i become with cooking. Things like hamburger helper here regular priced are about $4-5 per package for about $0.75 worth of pasta and some seasoning in a pouch. If i buy the spices and herbs it may cost more initally but it is far cheaper over all because that meal that could have cost me at least $8 easily is reduced almost by half. Plus it is healthier as well. Also another tip i have is to do big grocery shops and buy as much as you can afford go for bigger pacakges especially when it comes to meat and seperate it into what you would typically use per meal. You save a lot more money that way. Plan to buy things when they are on sale and get extra if you will use it before it expires. Look for stores that have things like customer appreciation day and give discounts. My last grocery bill was over $1600 before my savings i actually only paid about $1200 for it because i went on a day where they had 10% off your entire bill plus bought things that were on sale. Dont be afraid to clip coupons either and there are lots of free places online that give out coupons. Go to manufacturers websites often they will have coupon offers sometimes even free trials. I have gotten vouchers for full size bottles of things like coffee creamer and shampoo/conditioners for free by going to these places. Hopefully some of these help!

I am so sorry for your loss *hugs*

Here are some of my favorites. I usually include a a small quantity of each of these in my holiday gift baskets. Most are really not hard to make either especially the tiger butter recipe. Making rice crispy squares is more difficult! Whipped Shortbread 1 cup butter, softened 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar 1/4 cup red maraschino cherries, quartered 1/4 cup green maraschino cherries, quartered Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a large bowl, combine butter, flour, and confectioners' sugar. With an electric mixer, beat for 10 minutes, until light and fluffy. Spoon onto cookie sheets, spacing cookies 2 inches apart. Place a piece of maraschino cherry onto the middle of each cookie, alternating between red and green. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the bottoms of the cookies are lightly browned. Remove from oven, and let cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies on to wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container, separating each layer with waxed paper. Eggnog fudge INGREDIENTS 1 cooking spray 1 cup eggnog 3 cups white sugar 1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/8 cup butter, chilled 1/2 (11 ounce) package white chocolate chips 1 cup chopped almonds (optional) Line a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with aluminum foil and set aside. Spray the bottom and sides of a large saucepan with cooking spray. Heat eggnog and sugar over medium heat. Bring to rolling boil, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Boil for 2 minutes. Fold in marshmallows, cinnamon and nutmeg. Return to a boil for 6 minutes, stirring constantly. As the mixture boils it will become brown. Remove from heat and quickly stir in butter, white chocolate chips and almonds. Stir until well mixed and glossy. Quickly pour into prepared pan. Cool at room temperature. Remove from pan, remove foil and cut into squares. Tiger Butter INGREDIENTS 1 pound white chocolate 1 pound semisweet chocolate, melted 1 1/3 cups peanut butter Line a 10x15 inch pan with parchment. Set aside. In the top of a double boiler set over simmering (not boiling) water, heat white chocolate and peanut butter. Stir constantly until white chocolate and peanut butter melts. Spread onto prepared pan. Pour melted semi-sweet chocolate over top and swirl through with a knife, to create a marble pattern. Chill until firm. Cut into 1 /2 x 1" pieces. Eggnog quick bread INGREDIENTS 2 eggs 1 cup white sugar 1/2 cup butter, melted 1 cup eggnog 2 teaspoons rum flavored extract 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease bottom only of a 9x5 inch loaf pan, or three 6x3 inch loaf pans. Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in sugar, melted butter, eggnog, rum extract, and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Stir into eggnog mixture, just enough to moisten dry ingredients. Pour batter into prepared pan or pans. Bake bread in large pan for 40 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Breads baked in the smaller pans require 25 to 40 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack, and cool completely. Wrap tightly, and store in the refrigerator. Dark chocolate fudge truffles INGREDIENTS [*]2 cups Dark Chocolate Chips [*]3/4 cup whipping cream [*]Various coatings such as toasted chopped pecans, coconut, powdered sugar, cocoa or small candy pieces [*]Combine chocolate chips and cream in medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at HIGH (100%) 1 minute; stir. If necessary, microwave an additional 15 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating, until chips are melted and mixture is smooth when stirred. [*]Refrigerate 3 hours or until firm. Roll mixture into 1-inch balls. Roll each ball in coating. Cover; store in refrigerator. Baileys balls (Like rum balls but different) • 1 package nilla wafers crushed very fine • 2 cups ground almonds (can do this easily in a food processor) • 1 (12 ounce) package white chocolate chips • 3/4 cup light (clear) corn syrup • ¾ cup baileys liqueur • icing sugar for rolling DIRECTIONS 1. Very carefully melt the chocolate chips in the microwave stirring every 10-15 seconds to make sure it does not burn. 2. In a large bowl combine crushed vanilla wafers, ground almonds and melted chocolate chips. Stir in corn syrup and baileys; mix well into a thick dough. Let the dough sit for an hour. 3. Coat palms of hand with icing sugar and roll dough into balls It is easier to do if you have a melon baler to scoop them. Place on a cookie sheet, foil or wax paper to dry. 4. Roll in icing sugar and refridgerate in an airtight container. Rum balls INGREDIENTS [*]1 cup semisweet chocolate chips [*]1/2 cup white sugar [*]3 tablespoons corn syrup [*]1/2 cup rum [*]2 1/2 cups crushed vanilla wafers [*]1 cup chopped walnuts (optional) [*]1/3 cup confectioners' sugar [*]Chocolate jimmies (sprinkles) DIRECTIONS [*]Place chocolate chips into a microwave-safe medium bowl. Heat in the microwave for 1 minute, stir and then continue to heat at 20 second intervals, stirring between each, until melted and smooth. Stir in sugar and corn syrup. Blend in rum. Add crushed vanilla wafers and chopped nuts. Mix until evenly distributed. Cover and refrigerate until firm. [*]Roll the chilled chocolate mixture into bite-size balls. Roll balls in chocolate jimmies Store in a covered container for a week before serving to blend the flavors.

I have to agree that everyone here is such an inspiration there are so many great ideas and i love coming here

Congrats on the exams! I can sympathize with you i had a bunch in the last week as well two of them were today i am so glad they are over and done with i bet you are too!

I am sorry to hear of the diagnosis although at the same time i know you must be feeling some sort of relief I have been trying to find out what the problem with my daughter is for almost 4 years and still have no diagnosis. I almost cry everytime i get told she does not have whatever thing the test her for cause that means i still dont know. It's kind of bittersweet for sure to get the diagnosis you have been waiting for

It WAS on a shelf way up high and put there long after she went to bed i think the locking box might be the next thing to try This kid is like spiderwoman she climbs anything to get to what she wants.

Congrats on the mini surprise :angry: