Hidee Ho Good friends! I hope you are ready for some really cool FREE stuff! As I have been writing, recording, and gathering items for Free Giveaways for those of you subscribed to the Journey to Simplicity E-zine blessings have been pouring out. I have had friends, authors, and peers who have graciously offered Freebies exclusively for our e-zine subscribers as well. The first edition of the Freebies Only edition of the Journey to Simplicity e-zine will be on its way to your inbox this week.

Now, I want to thank those of you who emailed to let me know that my updates on social networks were either unclear or had broken links! Working so quickly, while keeping info coming your way has left me uh…well let’s just say I haven’t done the best from an editorial standpoint. I believe all the links have been fixed. Just to clarify here, I have decided to revamp the Journey to Simplicity E-zine. Starting with the next edition (coming out this week) the e-zine will contain FREE e-books, articles, forms, audios, giveaways, and the like. Your time is precious, and I honor that. All of the info you have come to count on will be posted here on the blog, but the e-zine will be the only way to obtain the FREE goodies. This includes upcoming editions of Mom Aid: Audios that Offer Solutions for the Dilemmas of Motherhood!

If you are currently a confirmed subscriber of the Journey to Simplicity e-zine you need do nothing to begin receiving the Freebies. But if you haven’t yet subscribed, take a minute to do so now. Just fill in your name and email on the right sidebar. You will receive an email asking you to confirm your subscription. Click on the link in the email and you will receive a special edition with your first Freebie (and one of my most popular), Pizza, Pizza, Pizza! Remember the e-zine is completely free; all you need to do is sign up and confirm. By all means don’t keep this information to yourself. Email your friends and have them sign up as well so they won’t miss out on one single Freebie! Why? Because the Freebies cannot be shared. They are my gift to subscribers!

On to the next. My hubby and I are about to begin planning our schedule for the fall and early winter for Fresh Gear Solutions, LLC. This will include scheduling for recreational activities for the kids, work schedules, medical care, speaking engagements (there are some fantastic ones coming up!), homeschool, co-op, and writing. Last year we found out what a difficult task this was with a family business that keeps us on the road 50% of the time. Keeping simplicity as a focus was a definite challenge for me, as most of you know. We are looking forward to some family “down time” for rest and relaxation during this month as well! In addition I have a few new e-books that are in need of being finished for you as well as really digging in and solving the user friendly issues (or lack thereof) at the Simple Journey Bookstore. With all this needing to be accomplished, I will be taking the month of July off.

What does this mean? Well, a few less posts per week for the most part. However, I will probably not be answering individual emails. I welcome you to continue to send emails. I will be gathering them and getting answers out to all of you for the most common dilemmas for future posts. All things in God’s grace, I will be back to posting 5 days per week beginning August 1, 2009. Oh, and one more thing…all special info will come in the e-zine. So, if you are one of those who wants to be in the know, you will definitely want to sign up for the Journey to Simplicity e-zine! If you want to keep in touch on a one on one basis, feel free to friend me over at facebook and twitter. Links for those are on the sidebar, or you can just look for me under Leslie Valeska on Facebook or leslievaleska on Twitter.

Bring on the Summer! As always, these are my thoughts.

Here’s a little something extra for you all this weekend. Heritage House Press is offering a FREE 4th of July mini unit study Facebook fans. I spent some time last night reviewing this freebie and might I say it is really cool! It contains fun activities such as colonial recipes and crafts, famous quotes, songs, as well as information about biographies of 4 influential Americans. Oh, and of course it tells about the Declaration of Independence. What I found really appealing about the unit is the wonderful short story form used. These are perfect read alouds for the entire family (even those with younger children). It is not overwhelming for mom to use and can easily be done in a few days leading up to the 4th.

I began nosy-ing around Heritage House Press’s website and was taken in immediately by the unique message and help they bring to homeschoolers. Their units are designed to assist homeschoolers incorporate the importance of influential African Americans into American history and written from a God lead perspective.  What a gem that is so often overlooked and information that is difficult to come by on your own. The curriculum series is called “Telling the Whole Story,” and you can find a nice sample on their website. So take some time to peruse Heritage House Press. Oh and don’t forget their Facebook Freebie: a 4th of July mini unit Study.

If you like what you see (as I am sure you will) join the Heritage House Press Facebook Fan Page for monthly freebies!

These are my thoughts.

Want to have your freezer stocked, but summer time activities have you going in a different direction. Wish you had meals in the freezer for simple and easy dinners on hot days? Malia Russell has some tips that can help. Today my friend Malia from Homemaking 911 shares her three best ideas for keeping your freezer stocked.

Malia’s Top Three Ideas for Keeping Freezer Inventory

1. Arrange a cooking exchange with friends.  Everyone agrees to make 10 family sized portions of their favorite freezer meals.  Everyone freezes it at home, and on a given day, gathers to swap.  It is great if you can get ten folks to do it, then you get a huge variety.  Making ten of one meal is much less time consuming than making ten different meals.
2. Stock your freezer with things that will make dinner easier.  Buy frozen veggies, desserts, and a couple of the healthier frozen meals that you can buy at the store.  If you truly have no time to cook, just add one pre-frozen meal to your groceries per week, but try not to use them right away.  After a month, you will have four good sized meals in your freezer. 
3. Try to double your dinner one night per week and freeze half.  An easy way to do this is to assign one night per week to be a soup or chili night.  Double that recipe.  After a month, you will have a nice variety of soups frozen on hand for when you really need them!

My site: http://www.homemaking911.com/

Bio:  Malia Russell is the blessed wife to Duncan, thankful mother to four children, ages 3-18 and an author, conference speaker and director of www.homemaking911.com.

It’s summer and this past week it has been H.O.T.! The index in some areas have been over 110!!! That means it is time for some simple, frugal, and cool treats for the kids. Try any one of these and watch the smiles on your children as they cool off with treats that are delicious, nutritious, and cost conscious.

• Frozen grapes! If you have never tried this snack, it is such a treat. In fact it is one of my favorite summer time treats! Remove grapes from stems, wash, and dry. Place cookie sheet and freeze. Then store in zip style freezer bag.
• Jamsicles! Oh these are a tasty treat that is FUN. Don’t throw that empty jam/jelly jar away. Pour a little juice or water in a newly finished jam jar. Place the lid on and shake until the sides come clean. Add a bit more juice and pour into ice cube or popsicle trays.
• Bananas Foster! Remove bananas from their skin. Cut in half. Melt some chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl with a 1-2tsps of butter. Place banana halves on popsicle sticks. Place bananas on wax paper lined cookie sheets. Drizzle with chocolate. Freeze.
• Frozen Lemonade! You know those delicious frozen lemonade drinks you purchase at stands, coffee shops, and sandwich shops for $3+ per 8 oz cup? You can make them at home in a heartbeat for just a few pennies. Make some lemonade by the method of your choice. Pour a bit of lemonade (1-2 cups depending on how many drinks you are making and what size) into a blender or food processor. Add 1 cup of ice cubes and process until desired consistency is reached. Pour into a cup and add a slice of lemon. Voila! A magnificent gourmet frozen drink!

Have a Cool and FUN Summer Day!

Laundry is a task every woman has on her To Do List. It is a chore we can’t seem to get away from. The other day my friend Julie twittered that she was doing laundry…again. I typed her a little song I put together about laundry. Ok this isn’t my song, but one that I changed the lyrics just a bit. The song is the closing theme of the Shari Lewis Show. Here’s how my Laundry Song:

This is the chore that never ends. Yes it goes on and on my friend.

Some Mommy started doing it not knowing what it was and she’ll continue doing it forever just because,

This is the chore that never ends. Yes it goes on and on my friend…

This is exactly how laundry can feel isn’t it? No matter how often you do it, there is always more to do. I think that clothes breed in the laundry sorter, although I can’t prove it. Even still there are ideas you can put into practice that will help you cut the costs of doing the laundry.

1.      Always run a full load.

2.      Dryer sheets can be costly. Most women use them in every load. You can cut down the cost of dryer sheets by either a) cutting dryer sheets in half, or b) using a damp washcloth w/ liquid softener on it. Either of these will cut your costs significantly.

3.      Hang on your laundry. I have said this so often, because it is one of the easiest ways to see an immediate and dramatic savings. Drying on a line outside is ideal, but if you don’t have a line you can hang your laundry on a rack, shower rods, or in doorways. One positive to hanging your clothing from rods or doorways is that you place each garment on a hanger, reducing the amount of time you spend on ironing and putting it away.

4.      Use the right amount of concentrated detergents. So many detergents and liquid fabric softeners are concentrated. A little measuring cup lid is supplied with each container. However, the fill line is most typically located on the bottom of the cap, unlike older caps; where you filled the entire cap. Using the wrong amount of detergent is not only wasteful, but it can cause skin irritations as well.

5.      Make your own laundry soap. There are lots of great homesteading and frugal blogs on the web that explain how you can make your own laundry soap for pennies per use. Of all the women I know who use their own homemade detergent, I can’t say one has ever said one negative thing about it. That should tell you something.

So do your task over and over, but do it with some common cents!

These are my thoughts.

Ok, I know the title seems contradictory to the task, but you really can have FUN while reducing the trash you put at your curb. It is simple and is fantastically frugal. Just think you can save money, live simple, and recycle all while having FUN! All you need are a few ideas to get your mind moving in the right direction.

Of course the first is to get your mind in the right place with prayer. Say a short prayer that God would open your mind and fill it with ideas that are actually FUN for the family. To do this, you need only to think on the simplest going green terms out there: REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE.

How about a game with your children? Using box, that is inverted, cut three holes and label each hole with a certain amount of points (think skeeball). Use a small ball that will fit in the holes. A player throws the ball. If the ball goes into a hole the player then offers an idea on how to reduce trash and/or use it for another purpose. Points are awarded accordingly. Think of something for a player to do if the ball does not go into the hole, such as grabbing an item from their closet to be donated to charity or being given a trash item and having to think of a specific way to reuse it. Record all ideas on lined paper with a column for each player. The person with the most points when he/she gets to 10 balls in a hole is the winner! Kids are VERY creative; trust me on this one! Once the game is over, use the box to play a BUNCH of other games using the same method.

Make junk art. Of course you can clean bottles, jars, boxes, plastic containers, baggies, etc to make all types of art with your kids, but consider what you can make for home décor with items you would normally throw away. One of my fave gal pals, Thelma, has truly inspired me in this area. She is MUCHO creative with junk and her home is beautifully decorated!

Still thinking about art, do you have items that need a new coat of paint and little more? Consider using leftover paint that you were looking to dispose of from other projects to give new life to an old object. Most recently, I have wanted to repaint a doll house. My daughter has a dollhouse that I received as a Christmas present many moons ago. It has been redecorated and repainted for another daughter, but now it’s ready for a new generation of play. Instead of purchasing paint, I decided she can choose from paint we already have. Looks like this time we might have a Key West/Bahamian style doll house with many colors!

Become a secret gift giver. Listen to your friends as they talk about projects and needs they have. Have an old bicycle that you were going to put curbside for the garbage man? Consider dropping it off anonymously at night in the driveway of a friend who has a child in need of a bicycle. This idea can be used for all sorts of items you might put in the garbage. Consider toys, packs of paper in weird colors, games, books, cans, stationary, party decorations, clothing, shoes, boxes, planting pots, kitchen utensils, etc. The ideas are limitless! You can de-clutter your home, reduce your garbage, give a gift, AND have fun all at the same time. When you are giving these gifts, just place them in a bag (you can use up some of those free tote bags, shopping bags, or old tablecloths) and hang the items on your friend or neighbor’s doorknob when she is not at home. Remember to act completely befuddled and dumbfounded when she calls to tell you about what was left at her home. This is SO much FUN!

Items that are typically thrown away make fabulous resources for science projects! Just look at the items you throw away such as aluminum foil, plastic bottles, toothpicks, cans, plastic bags, broken toys, games with lost pieces, empty containers from items such as toothpaste, socks or other clothing with holes in them, even old bits of food. These are all items that can be used for a wide variety of science projects; providing FUN and educational activities for the kids! We were talking about desalinization plants and decided that we would try a few different ideas for the most effective process by using garbage items such as bottles, cans, tubes, and some overly sticky tape!

Get inspired to sew! Some of the most simple and frugal sewing projects can be made with old clothing and fabric household items. Consider making cloth napkins, coasters, wallets, tote bags, small item holders, blankets, custom pillow cases, purses, curtains, dolls, etc. These type projects require little sewing skills, and can even be sewn by hand! Not only that but many are so small in nature they can be taken anywhere to work on when you are waiting in the doctor’s office, at a sport practice for your child, or on your lunch break at work. Consider using the items you make for gifts for upcoming birthdays, anniversaries, and even Christmas!

Now your mind is racing with FUN ways you can reduce and reuse items you were going to throw in the trash; aren’t you? It really can be simple, frugal, and FUN!

These are my thoughts.

This week our family was surprised by Dad. He came home the other night and told us that we were going on the road (no surprise), but that we would not be heading to a hockey rink. There would be no skating, no stinky gear, no work of any kind; we were taking a break. Considering that my husband has only had a few days off since Christmas, we were all pretty astounded. He wasn’t just taking the weekend off, but the week (all except Friday) as well. With short notice we knew we would have to be doing something really low key; which can either mean high stress for mom or stress free for all. Still not sure which one this holiday will be, I prepared a few posts for this week while we are off for a much needed break!

Today, I am getting some help from my friend Betsy. She offers her top three ways to make food stretch. Enjoy this list and you too can incorporate some frugal ways to stretch your food dollar. These are not only frugal, but simple as well. Summer is a season we can all embrace meals of simplicity!

Top Three Tips for Making Our Food Stretch:

1. Plan menus that “re-purpose” meals. Ex: a pot roast can be used many different ways and for our family, an average 4-5 lb. roast can become 4-5 meals depending on how it’s used. Another re-purposing tip: save the spoonfuls of left over veggies from supper in a container in the freezer. When it gets full, thaw and make veggie chowder.

2. Use non-traditional ingredients in place of traditional ones. Ex: when making a Mexican casserole use a can kidney beans run through a food processor in place of a can of refried beans because the kidney beans are less expensive. However, it is even more economical to have beans and rice for supper one night and run any left over beans through a food processor for the Mexican casserole on the next night. This also works well to stretch taco meat. Another non-traditional ingredient we use is spaghetti sauce in place of pizza sauce. It has been many, many years since a jar of pizza sauce was purchased and again, my family has never complained. Lastly, many times I have found using milk in place of heavy cream works just as well. Experiment and see what works for your family.

3. I have become famously known in my family as the Queen of the One Pot Wonder. Casseroles, stews/soups and crock-pot meals are staples in our home. They reheat well so they make for a yummy lunch the next day.

In all the discussions about earth friendliness, walking lightly, reducing carbon footprints, recycling, and green living people seem to make assumptions. One of the biggest misconceptions is that only secular tree huggers are concerned about the earth. I often hear how liberal environmentalists are the only people who have taken the concern of the earth’s future as an important topic seriously. This couldn’t be further from the truth. As a Christian I have been commanded to care for those around me, my community, and the earth I reside on. It just makes sense for my family to make changes that will help us uphold these commands. Summer is a perfect time to teach community service while providing activities for your kids.

Caring for the earth, recycling, and/or green living does not need to be a subject for any one particular group of people with one set of beliefs. We all need to be working together as a community. Homeschoolers often put a focus on community service and many school systems require community service of their students. Here are a few ideas, tips, and projects that you may want to consider using in your family to promote and teach community service while keeping the kids occupied this summer.

Teach your children to love and respect the animals and insects of nature. If they catch grasshoppers, butterflies, tadpoles, etc, remember to set them free after a reasonable amount of observation time.

In addition to this, respecting animals is wonderful, but respect your neighbors too. If you walk your dog and he/she does his/her business on a neighbor’s property, scoop it up and dispose of properly. Teaching your children about why this important and how this contributes to their neighborhood could be a fantastic jumping spot to inspiring your children to think of others before themselves.

Speaking of neighbors, if you wake up on garbage day and notice that your neighbor’s can has been tipped or a bag has been opened by some night scurrying animals, grab some gloves and pick it up. It costs absolutely nothing to be a good neighbor! Even small children can help with this task if they have plastic gloves and adult supervision.

Next time you are at your local library, ask a librarian if they have a contact list for community service organizations that are in need of volunteers or a calendar for community events that are child friendly. Your library is a great resource for any community information!

Check the agenda for local government hearings that are open to the public. Attend a hearing and ask questions about how community projects are and will affect the community. Speak up! This is a wonderful opportunity for parents of middle elementary children through high school children to teach the process of affecting positive changes within the community.

Be more conscious of what can be recycled and picked up by your community recycling program. If your community is one that does not have one yet, gather information about what it takes to start one and begin the process. Talk with your children about the processes used to recycle different types of materials and why it is important. Get your kids thinking about how they can help inform and inspire one other person to recycle. Now, guide them to put their plan in action.

Keep your eyes open at work, school, and church. Is there an area of waste or inefficiency that could easily be rectified with little more than a suggestion from you? Consider putting collection bins for soda cans in your church and taking them to a recycling center. Donate the money earned back to the church. If you do this at work or school, make a common goal or charity to donate the money towards. For example, perhaps your office cannot afford the wonderful but expensive transition to energy efficient lighting. All money raised could go towards making that possible.  

You will likely be surprised by how much one family can affect change with just a minimal effort. Imagine what can be accomplished if your family really gets behind one project! With the kids at home you can easily adapt these ideas for summer time FUN! Summer is the  perfect time to teach community service because your kids can really put in the time and brain power to take off with an idea. Whatever you choose to do with your children, be sure to discuss the importance of community service and God’s desire for us to serve others as well as care for His creation. If every community had one family that committed to affecting change in just one area, the world would be vastly changed over a short period of time.

These are my thoughts.

If I had a dime for every email I receive requesting ways to save space on specific items, I would be a rich woman; literally. Everyone has at least one or two items that present an organizational brain freeze. Some of the most common groups of items that are a quandary for women are those that we frequently carry with us. I refer to these as “On the Go Items.” These vary from woman to woman and Mom to Mom because each one of us has different needs. Some of us may carry diaper bags, while others who do not have an infant may carry an average size handbag. Still others may only carry a small purse. Then there are those of us who do not have infants but still carry large tote bags or an entire cart on wheels (guilty as charged). Today let’s focus those that we want to carry with us, but desperately need to be organized or compact.

Need to have your Bible with you at all times? Well, in today’s world you don’t need to carry your big home Bible to have away from home access. Many cell phones and mp3 players are e-book friendly. Consider uploading the specific book of the Bible you are studying right into your phone. This also works well if you have an e-book reader. Two that I like, because they offer multiple versions of the Bible for download for free: Bible Explorer and E-sword. Another option for a space saving Bible on the go is a thin line or compact Bible such as the ones sold by CBD, IBSDirect. They are very inexpensive, cheap, a frugal zealot’s dream, I dare say.

An extra tote bag. How many times have you been out and about and discover you need an extra bag while running your errands? Perhaps you need to collect garbage (from your kids of course), contain a dirty diaper and wipes, gather unexpectedly soiled clothing, or those few unexpected little items you pick up at a roadside stand or yard sale. Whatever your need, an extra tote bag would come in handy at times wouldn’t it? But who has space in her already bulging handbag to carry yet another bag? Check out your local discount store for a tote bag that fold into a little purse. You will likely find one for under a dollar. If you can’t find one, consider sewing one.

Cash, cards, and coins. I don’t know what happened to coin purses, but somewhere and time they went out of style. However these little beauties are perfect for storing those ultimate essential items while keeping your basic tote bag, handbag, purse, or pocketbook organized. You can score some of the cutest little fabric coin purses for carrying those few dollars of cash, one or two constantly used cards (debit, library, discount), and loose change at a local dollar store. I have actually found these marked 2/$1. Can’t find them at rock bottom prices, again you can sew a few so simply and easily using scraps of fabric. Here are a few tutorials to get you started.  Carolyn of Split Yarn’s tutorial for a wristlet and Kerry’s Change Purse Tutorial.

Personal hygiene and cosmetics. Go with the bare minimum. When it comes to hygiene I carry only three basic items: a hairbrush, toothbrush, lip balm. These are the most common items I want to be certain I carry everywhere I go. To keep it simple, I purchased (cheaply) a travel (foldable) hairbrush, a travel (foldable) toothbrush, and my favorite lip balm. These can easily be found at Wal-Mart for under $4 (total cost). I place them all in a zip style sandwich bag so I can grab exactly what I want when I need it or transfer to another bag with easily and quickly. One other item I keep with me in the summer is a small bottle of sun lotion. I purchase the economy size bottle at the beginning of the summer and refill a travel bottle that I purchased for 50 cents (again at Wal-Mart). This is for those times when we stop unexpectedly at the beach or a park. I store this bottle in a separate zip style snack bag just in case of bottle malfunction. There is nothing worse than reaching in your bag blindly for something and pulling up a handful of squishy stuff!

As a mom we often care for the sick throughout our life times. We care for sick infants, toddlers, children, adolescents, young adults, spouses, parents, friends, relatives, etc. And lest we forget pets. Today mom’s TLC has proven not to be the answer for one of our beloved pets, Crush.

While only a turtle, we have enjoyed many hours watching him and his friend Michelangelo frolicking, swimming, crawling through our yard, sleeping, eating, etc. But now it is time to put him to rest. Crush died while basking in God’s glorious sunshine. For the littletons, this is hard to understand. “He’s just a turtle.” doesn’t apply. As we look upon his ever so still body, we mourn the loss of our friend.

As a mom, I look forward to using this as a lesson of God’s world and will. I will let the littletons mourn, and reminiss. We will say our last goodbyes, and we will place back where he came, into the earth. In a day or so, things will return to normal. There will be no more tears. But today we are able to stop our lives, for just a bit and take time to work through this issue. That is one of the beautiful aspects of homeschooling, isn’t it.

So today there will be no regular post, no picutres, and no giggles (ok maybe later) as our family will come together to help the littletons understand this; their first experience with permanent loss, and I praise God for the opportunity and the blessing to be the mom to do this.

These are my thoughts.