I somehow powered through the busted ankle and the four kids with three different ailments (cold, stomach bug, and teething, of which I also have two!) and had a robust post planned for today. My laptop had other plans and suddenly stopped working. The fine people at my local Apple Store fixed it in a matter of seconds, but it threw my day and my writing off. Apparently, the more I try to be mindful about my blogging, the more complicated my life seems to get just to throw me off.

parenting

The Crafty Crow has posted a kids homemade ornament swap. Sign up now for a fun crafting exchange. Though we don’t do Christmas at home or have a tree, I love ornaments (is that weird?) and would really have loved to do this with my oldest. I just don’t think it’s in the cards for us this year. Our family life is a little too unpredictable for activities where we would disappoint other kids if we didn’t come through!

crafting

Cool, crafty make your own recycled bath mat! This looks like so much fun. The Cookie Magazine “nesting” blog has a lot of smart how-tos, like this on making fabric covered drawer pulls. Considering I was thinking of shelling out $6 each for some at Anthropologie today and I have *tons* of fabric, I’m definitely going to try this first!

resources

Got piles of music or data CDs you don’t know how to recycle? Re-nest points out the CD Recycling Center.  They take disks, cases, and liners, and have great ideas for setting up recycling stations in an office, library or school.

Cool Mom Picks shares hand-me-downs, a freecycle and freepeats-esque resource that also combs craiglist and other sites to put info in one place. Right now, it’s only in a few cities, and not mine. Let me know if you check it out…

It’s been a chilly start to fall here already in the Midwest. Twice, I’ve been out for a walk with my 8 month old triplets and the overcast sky turned into a small snow shower. It got me in the mood for warm, filling food, for sure.

Then, a turn for the inconvenient: I have a swollen tendon in my wrist (repetitive stress injury) and a sprained-almost-broken ankle (falling down some stairs injury) and am the proud owner of not one but two splints! And some very limited mobility. So, I’m focusing on recipes that are really, really easy and one-pot oriented, so that I don’t turn to take out on these stressful days and don’t leave us too much to clean up!

Sunday: One of our family favorites, Qunioa and Black Beans. It doesn’t get more one-pot than this and it is full of protein, especially if you load it with shredded cheese and sour cream at the table. I used Whole Food’s Ranchero beans instead of black, it gives it a nice spicy kick without having to season it yourself.

Monday: Potsticker soup. Did I mention that in addition to my injuries, I’m fighting a virus, too? Yuck.

Tuesday: Slow Cooker taco bake. A new recipe, and I’ll be using turkey meat and some other substitutes, but yum!

Wednesday: Chicken Thighs and Orzo, plus turkey bacon and feta, minus panceta and goat cheese. (We don’t eat pork, DH doesn’t like goat cheese.)

Thursday: Cheddar, Corn and Potato Chowder. I know I’ve posted corn chowder recipes before. I’m still looking for the one that I’ll pull out over and over again.

Friday: Family pizza night. First time in months I won’t be using homemade pesto or other veggies straight from our garden

Saturday: Breakfast for dinner. My husband will take responsibility for this one, since he makes the best eggs! We’ll have turkey bacon, cheese grits, toast, and hopefully some leftovers for Sunday morning.

Project Organic Eating has a nice round up of currently available manufacturer’s coupons for natural items.

Coinstar has to be one of my favorite things. You take the change that’s cluttering up your house, car, bag, whereever, toss them in, and get giftcards back to great places like Amazon, Starbucks, and iTunes. From Mommy Making Money:

Find a Coinstar in your area that does E-certificates or Gift Cards (click on “Search for Specific Products” on their locator). Your coins are counted FREE when you choose one of these options; choose a store for your holiday shopping (Amazon, Old Navy, Lowe’s, etc.). Right now they’re running a promo where you mail in your receipt for an extra $10 e-cert when you change $40. You’ll see the details at the bottom of your e-cert printout.

“Deal”icious Mom has the details on a free subscription to Plenty, a green news and lifestyle magazine.

parenting

My kids are just at the phase where a crumpled shopping list (or, the favorite, a Luna Bar wrapper) is a great toy, but they do always wind up in the mouth. Parent Hacks suggests nori instead. Brilliant!

crafting

Some no sew ideas for quick projects: How about a rag rug rug from Little House in the Suburbs or a Tote using staples and duct tape from Martha Stewart? Little House in the Suburbs also shares a how-to for making sandwich wraps out of plastic bags and shower curtains!

eating

Kale chips? Please, yes. I’m trying to eat fewer carbs (they make me sluggish) and I adore kale!

Re-nest also talks about Eating Organically on a Tight Budget. Whole Foods is cutting back on new stores. Are you cutting back on Whole Foods? (I’m not, I’m an addict. And well known as their crazy coupon lady.)

I know, my new schedule is all wonky and it’s only the second week, but I’m tired

I couldn’t hold out until Friday with all of the great stuff that’s suddenly popping up, after a slow week last week.

First, please vote! My post at BeCentsAble this week is all about how voting is green and frugal (and important!). Take advantage of those great freebies and then come back here after you’ve done your civic duty

Second, lots and lots of discount codes on green and natural items, if you are starting to think about gifts or just want to save a little money on things for yourself!

• Kate’s Caring Gifts brings you the very best natural, organic, and ecologically sustainable products that you can find anywhere, featuring natural skin care, organic and fair trade foods, natural candles, and other great gifts. Eco Child’s Play shares a code for 20% (“GREENOPTION”).
• Every weekend, Etsy blog The Storque does a post on stores that are hosting sales that weekend. Free items, free shipping, and more.
• Re-nest has a 15% off code for the eco-boutique Grasshopper 510’s new online store (”sitecelebration”) through November 7.

Is Freepeats in your city? Now open in 35 cities across the country and with more than 11,000 members, this online forum allows parents to pick up gently-used baby, kid, and maternity items for free. Freepeats is celebrating one year with Free Membership Week (thru November - you can get a free lifetime membership, but you have to join this week!

Through this Saturday, several natural beauty and skincare items are on sale at Target including Burt’s Bees, Yes To Carrots, Alba, Giovanni and Dr. Bronner’s. Yes To Carrots body butter tubs will be more than 80% off (only $1.99!) at Walgreens on Black Friday, per ads that have just been released. I’m already envisioning these in a basket with some homemade bath scrubs as a cute gift for babysitters or friends. (Thanks to Attention Target Shoppers and From Wags to Riches for the tips.)

Lastly, eco-guru Dan Seo has a bedding and linen collection at JC Penney (who knew?). Lots on sale now, including cotton and bamboo blend towels and sheet sets.

Wow, kind of makes up for that big old nothing on Friday, huh?

The New York Times last week, Oprah the week before that. Now, even NPR is talking couponing now! There is no bright spot to our global economic situation, but all of this attention has to be good for bargain hunters. The more people looking for and using coupons, the more a company is likely to put them out there. Right?

Clearly, the economic situation has filtered down into the green consciousness, and quickly. None of us want to part with our natural lifestyle choices, if it can be avoided. Treehugger discusses our collective belt-tightening and what it means for the ability to buy organic foods, nontoxic cleaners, and the like. Of course, sage is here to argue that you might be able to find a way to have it all (or at least find a coupon to help…). And I’m not the only one. Divine Caroline shares Smart Organic Choices for Limited Budgets. Eco Child’s Play has posted 4 articles in a series (so far, perhaps more are coming) on Being Green in a Tight Economy (Part I, II, III, IV).

What changes have I made?

• Continuing to drive less and combine errands, even when gas prices feel like a bargain. As a bargain nut, it’s easy to say, “$2.33? Fill ‘er up!” The truth is, prices will stabilize sooner than the economy does, and the impact on the climate hasn’t changed one iota.
• Tightening our “extra expenditures” budget. When I hit the ATM, I take out half as much money as I used to, to see how long I can make it last. In addition, we slide a lump sum into an ING account that I have a debit card for, to cover all of our household expenses besides bills and grocery shopping for the entire month. This is the shoes and cloth diapers and eBay fund, which I augment with anything I get via PayPal. So far, I’ve never exceeded the ING budget, and I try to spend as little of it as possible.
• Making my own cleaners as store-bought ones run out. I’ve been a slave to method and Seventh Generation in places where borax and baking soda would do.

I guess mostly I feel like I know how to make smarter choices, by keeping this site I’ve linked to so many easy, important ideas, so now it’s time to put my money and my efforts where my mouth is!

How about you? What small changes have you made, maybe without giving them too much thought, that you hope will impact your bottom line? Inspire me