Category: Mama’s Kitchen

Becoming Debt Free One Bill At A Time

Published on by Susie @ Pollywog's Place Blog1 Comment

As I’ve mentioned before I am working on paying off some of my hospital bills from February. I had been so sick with a kidney infection and had to go to the hospital a couple of times. Needless to say that without insurance these trips got very expensive.

However I am please to report that this week I have finally paid off the final bill that I’ve received. Yay! What a relief!I have also been looking at Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps and plan to start working on Step #1 which is to save $1,000 for an emergency fund. I did have this saved earlier this year but due to hospital bills and other unforeseen circumstances this has since been depleted.

There are so many different ways to save even when on a budget and if you check out my Pinterest Board Momma: Be Debt Free  you can check out some different ideas there. I haven’t made a set plan yet but I’ve put $25.00 back in the pot as start towards that $1,000. I’m hoping to reach this goal by the end of the year.

I’ll be posting a new post about the second step soon!This post does contain affiliate links which help to support our blog.

Family Fun Day: Books, Elvis, Ice Cream, and Another Huge UPS Delivery

Published on by Susie @ Pollywog's Place Blog3 Comments

**This post does contain some affiliate links which help to support our blog.

Oh what a day we’ve had. The kids thought it was gonna be just another boring day but it actually turned out to be quite interesting.

The morning started as it normally does with the exception that we had a cereal day instead of muffins… I just wasn’t in a muffin kinda mood this morning. Nobody complained either. Before breakfast the kids had done a little bit of their summer work books that I’ve printed off for them.

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After breakfast we had some calendar time… do you like our new calendar we got from Lakeshore Learning? This picture was from the weekend. It is quite a bit bigger than our old one and I had a hard time finding a good place to put it. So for now it is in our ‘hallway’ and I put up some new remote control lights to help us see better. These are really neat and I had enough to put one in the closet as well.

After the chores, which included changing/washing the sheets and washing the whites, I had everyone load up in the van. Well first a couple of them had to change clothes because they had already gotten dirty. We also had to brush hair, wash faces, and go potty. Eventually we made it to the van and I had them asking so many questions about where we were going…. but I wanted to keep it a secret. Continue reading “Family Fun Day: Books, Elvis, Ice Cream, and Another Huge UPS Delivery” →

Favorite Lemon Meringue Pie

Published on by Susie @ Pollywog's Place Blog5 Comments

I love a lemon meringue pie when it is just a tad bit tart. The contrast between the sweet meringue and the tart lemon is so good. I’ve been promising to post my recipe for over a year now and today is the day.

I have been ‘cheating’ and using the store-bought pie crusts from the dairy section but nobody has complained yet. You could also use a graham cracker crust or one of the vanilla crumb crusts I’ve seen at some stores.

**Special thanks to my son-in-law @moments2lifephotography for the amazing cover photo! Continue reading “Favorite Lemon Meringue Pie” →

A Completely Honest Review Of Our First Hello Fresh Box!

Published on by Susie @ Pollywog's Place BlogLeave a comment

We were so very excited to try out Hello Fresh. If you haven’t heard of them they offer a subscription plan where you choose your plan and your meals. They will deliver the meals, fresh from the farm to your home, and they provide a tracking service so you will know when to expect the package. You even have the option to skip a week or two, if needed.

You will need the basic kitchen utensils plus a few things like, butter, olive oil, salt and pepper, and sugar. Other than those ingredients they pretty much provide everything right in the cute little bags they deliver.

The first meal I made was the Lobster Ravioli with Chorizo in a Sherry Cream Sauce with Honey-Roasted Carrots, which was a Premium meal. Seems so fancy, doesn’t it? Continue reading “A Completely Honest Review Of Our First Hello Fresh Box!” →

A Pocket Full of Pennies

Published on by Susie @ Pollywog's Place BlogLeave a comment

If you are close to me then you might hear me jingle when I walk. You might also wonder why or how I’ve come to have a pocketful of pennies. Well if you were one of my kiddos there is a good chance that that jingle means that I’ve caught them being good.

As part of my newest positive parenting technique I’ve decided to start carrying around a pocketful of pennies. Every time I catch my kids doing something good I’ll give them a penny. My kids love money as do most kids and this is a fun way for them to earn a little bit to put in their piggy banks.

Some examples of catching them ‘being good’ would be if big sister is helping little brother put on his shoes without being asked. Maybe little brother found some stickers stuck to floor and he is working on scraping them up without being told. Also I’ve caught them taking care of their chores without being reminded.

Also we have been working a lot on making ‘good choices’. I have one child, in particular, who is extremely impulsive and will make some really ‘bad choices’ on a daily basis. When I see that the kids are making good choices when it comes to something we’ve been working on I may be able to catch them in the act and reward them with a penny or a hug. They love this extra bit of attention and the fact that their piggies are getting quite fat.

Now sometimes they just get a big hug or some kind of ‘atta boy’ in exchange for the deed. I don’t want them to think that they will always be rewarded monetarily for every good behavior that they display. I just want to try to focus more on the good than the bad as sometimes we can get stuck in a parenting rut where it feel like we are just spinning tires and going nowhere.

Please note that I am not an expert in the field of parenting but I do have a little bit of experience in the area.This method of rewarding good behavior seems to be working, for now. I am hoping that this will help to encourage them to demonstrate kindness to one another on a regular basis and learn that being responsible can and will pay off.