Teacher Gifts

With the end of the school year approaching, it's time to start thinking about buying a gift for the teacher(s). I'm always amazed at how FEW gifts teachers get at the end of the year after working countless hours for the children. Teaching is often a thankless job with lots of hours and less than stellar pay. Teachers truly do deserve a word of thanks and a token of appreciation, no matter what size your budget. Below is a list of suggestions that will show your appreciation without breaking the bank.

1. Write a handwritten note of appreciation and support to the teacher and give a copy to the principal as well. This often goes into the teacher’s permanent file and is often the best thanks for a job well done.

2. Have your child write (or illustrate if young) a note to their teacher with favorite memories from the year.

3. Gift Certificates to a restaurant so the teacher can REALLY have some time off at the end of the year.

4. For that matter, teachers appreciate gift cards for anything—bookstores, coffee shops, candle shops, department stores,

5. Flowering plants and a note of thanks for helping your child “grow”, or a potted plant in an inexpensive hand-painted pot (from a craft store—use acrylic paints)

6. Gift Certificate to a spa for a massage or pedicure. Teachers are always on their feet!

7. Theme Baskets--smaller items in a particular theme grouped together to make a larger gift: (movie basket w/ movie rental gift card, popcorn, candy; relaxation basket with gourmet chocolates and sparkling lemonade and a fiction book)

8. Homemade gifts

What are your ideas or teacher giving traditions? Link below or leave a comment.

Beer Bread Mix Recipe

I bought a couple of boxes of pricey Beer Bread Mix a year ago, and was instantly hooked. In my quest to live frugally but not give up little luxuries, I searched for a HOMEMADE recipe that tasted just as good With some tweaking, this one did it. I have made this recipe several times and it is DELISH!

Basic Beer Bread Mix:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon baking powder
12 ounces beer (or soda for a sweeter bread; beer is preferable)
2-3 Tablespoons melted butter

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder in a large mixing bowl. Slowly stir in beer and mix just until combined. Batter will be thick. Spread in a lightly greased/sprayed 8-inch loaf pan. Brush top with melted butter. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean, about 35- 40 minutes.

Cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool 10 more minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.


Variations: Add any of the following to the batter for a twist: dried or fresh herbs; 1/2 cup freshly grated asiago or cheddar; 1/2 cup finely chopped onion, 1 clove minced garlic, or 1/2 cup chopped scallions

The flavor is so unique, it can stand alone or be cubed and served with dip. If you have any leftovers after a couple of days (unlikely!) cube it and toast it up for great croutons.

'Angels and Demons' fails to generate Vatican outrage

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- On the eve of its world premiere, "Angels and Demons" was a film in desperate search of controversy.

At a press conference in Rome May 3, director Ron Howard tried to pick a fight with the Vatican, suggesting that the long arm of the Holy See was somehow behind unspecified problems in shooting the film, a pseudo-religious thriller based in Rome.

The Vatican wasn't taking the bait, though.

Click here to read the article.

Frugal Recipe Database

Whether you have a large family to feed, are cutting back expenses by making more homemade meals, or just want to use up your pantry items before they expire, we all need a resource for finding frugal recipes. I found this USDA site to be very helpful in searching for recipes to fit certain parameters. You are able to search by ingredients, recipe name, cooking method (stove, oven, microwave, etc) even price. Click here to visit the USDA recipe-finder site.

May is for Mary

May is Traditionally Mary’s month, dating back to medieval times when St. Philip of Neri decorated the statue of the Blessed Mother with spring flowers. Here are some ideas to do with your children to honor Mary this Month:

1. Pray the Litany to Mary Click here

2. Write and illustrate a prayer to Mary

3. Have a family May-Crowning

4. Pray the Rosary together

5. Plant a Mary Garden

Mary Gardens are small gardens, usually containing a statue of the Blessed Mother along with symbolic flowers and herbs, and occasionally a small stone wall. Suggested flowers include:

§ red roses to symbolize Our Lady’s sorrows

§ white roses to symbolize her joys

§ yellow roses to herald her glories

§ Marigolds—legend says Mary’s dresses were adorned with these

§ Lily-of-the-valley

§ Violets symbolize Mary’s humility

§ Rosemary (legend says the bush’s white flowers turn blue in reward for the service it offered when the Mary used it to spread her child’s tiny clothes on after washing them on the way to Egypt)

§ Blue flowers (the traditional color attributed to Our Lady)

(garden info courtesy "Catholic Traditions in the Home and the Classroom, Ann Ball)

Summer Fun for Kids

AMC Summer Movie Club

$1 Admission every Wednesday from June 17th through August 5th. If you want to add snacks, $3 per person includes kids sized drink, kid sized popcorn, and kids sized snack. Click here for a list of titles.

Free Summer Bowling for Kids

AMF bowling lanes offering 2 free bowling games per child per day this summer. Click for participating locations and details (may not include shoe rental).

Barnes and Noble Summer Reading Program

1.Kids read any eight (8) books of their own choosing.
2. Kids use the Summer Reading Journal to tell us their favorite part of each book. A parent/guardian signs the journal when it's complete.
3. Children bring their completed Reading Journal to a Barnes & Noble store between May 26th & September 7th, 2009.
4. We'll give them a coupon for a FREE book! They choose from a list of exceptional paperback titles.*

REGAL Free Family Film Festival Begins June ‘09!

When school’s out, kids around the country visit selected Regal theatres for the Free Family Film Festival. It’s a fun-filled nine weeks of movies for kids and parents. Since 1991, Regal has provided this service to the community, and best of all it’s FREE!

Selected G & PG movies start at 10AM each Tuesday and Wednesday during the festival. First-come, first-served seating is limited to theatre capacity. The Free Family Film Festival is safe, lots of fun and a great way for kids to spend a weekday morning in the summer.

Tickets for our 2009 Free Family Film Festival are exclusively available at select theatres’ box office on the day of the show.

About Me

A little bit about me and this site..

I'm 34, I've been married to my wonderful husband, for 12 years and counting, and we have four fun, loud, energetic children--ages 11, 8 (the only boy!), 6 , and 3.   I went to Franciscan University and have a degree in education, but I'm now a stay-at-home Mom. I love being home for all the "little moments" of daily life--the first words, kissing the boo-boos, watching their little imaginations hard at work making elaborate forts out of blankets and pillow and stuffed animals and LEGOS...

My husband has always worked for a non-profit employer, so for me to be able to stay home, we have had to learn to make EVERY penny count and cut our budget to the bare-bones. I've learned that it's possible to save money in almost every area: grocery and household costs, utilities, medical costs, gift-giving, cooking, travel and entertainment. I thought I was frugal 12 years ago when we had 2 incomes and no children. Ha! We've come a long way since then. Over the years as we've added to our family, bought a house, gone through a job loss and consequently tightened up our budget even more, we've had to learn more and more strategies for stretching our dollars as far as they would go--spending less and getting more.

Saving money (and NOT SPENDING money!) is an ongoing quest for us.  Since I am already doing the searching for deals, coupons, freebies, frugal recipes and all, I figure I might as well share that info here on my blog and hopefully help others live well on small budgets, too. Saving a few dollars here and a few dollars there adds up to saving a LOT of dollars that you can use somewhere else!

Some more random tidbits about me:

-I love to cook.  I'm a Foodie--I admit it.  I love reading cookbooks and gourmet cooking magazines, planning menus, watching the Food Network, trying new recipes and trying to duplicate recipes I've tried somewhere else. 

-I hate to clean!  I 'm not fond of washing dishes by hand (but I will happily load, empty and re-load the dishwasher all day long.  Go figure.).  I dislike mopping.  And vacuuming.  I actually like doing laundry, though.  :)

-We live in a teeny tiny house--the one I grew up in, actually.  All six of us are squashed together in 993 square feet with one bathroom and no garage.  For the most part, it works, but some days it feels like we are on top of one another.  If you have any tips for squeezing three girls and all their clothes and stuff into one tiny bedroom, though, please let me know!! I would LOVE to buy a big old house one day with a big farm kitchen and lots of land for a big garden and for the kids to run around. 

-My favorite movies are the sappy, girly ones like The Sound of Music and Pride and Prejudice.

-I love color.  I'm on a kick to re-decorate and add more color everywhere. My favorite color, though, has always been blue.

-I started tinkering with oils and acrylics after visiting an art museum years ago--painting is SO much fun (too bad I have no talent for it)!

-We have our very own petting zoo.  Currently, we have a Dog (Kipper), two cats (Reisling and Frascati--both named after wines), and various hamsters, gerbils, and pet rats.  Hopefully there aren't any rodents around here that I DON'T know about...  :)

-I started this blog as a hobby I can do while at home with the kids.  My brain was turning to mush so I wanted to try something new.

-I love music.  In high school I played 4 instruments (Trumpet, Mellophone, Flute, Piccolo).  I need to start practicing again.

Send me an email anytime! I'd love to hear your questions, feedback, ideas, tips...

Email me at:  frugalcatholicmommy@gmail.com

Thanks for stopping by to visit!

--Pam

If You Are New, Start Here

Welcome to my little corner of the web!  Thanks for stopping by.

If you are a new visitor to this site, here are a few things to help you navigate:

1. If you want to return to the main (home) page, just click the "Home" button on the brown navigation bar.  You can also click the Frugal Catholic Mommy image at the top of the page to return to the home page.

2. This site is updated everyday with deals, free samples, links to printable coupons, and coupon match-ups with weekly sales that may help your family and mine hopefully save some money.  I also add in other content frequently, though not necessarily daily-- Helpful Hints of the Week,  updates on reward programs that enable you to earn a few dollars/Gift Cards from home, Catholic articles and tidbits,  frugal recipes that my family enjoys (I love to cook and am always trying new things), and giveaways.

3.  If you want to search for info I've posted on a particular topic (recipes, coupons, Catholic Links, freebies...) just look at the navigation bar along the top, or look under Post Categories for a more comprehensive list.

4. If you don't want to miss any of the daily posts, go ahead and subscribe.  Feedburner (by Google) will send a daily summary email if you choose, or you can subscribe to the RSS feed.  Subscribing is free and you will NEVER get spam from me.

5. Any current giveaways I'm offering will be listed with their ending dates under "Giveaways".  The daily Mass readings and the Saint of the Day update daily.

6.  Visit the About/Contact page for any other info you want to know!

Thanks for visiting.  I hope you stop by again soon!

Baby Steps..With Big Kids

Well, small successes are to be celebrated. It's been a milestone day around here!

1. My 9 year old daughter HATES having her hair brushed and arranged. We have a daily battle before school in which I try to convince her to let me put her hair back or at least brush it, and she refuses and brushes it herself--or at least she brushes the top half. The bottom half of her curly hair usually ends up in a big tangled poof. Well, today is May crowning, and she ASKED me to please do her hair. Yay!

2. Tonight is the CubScout campout. Even though Dads go to this campout, too, my son didn't want to go. He is not the adventurous type. At all. But, after some convincing, he has decided he wants to try it, and is now making a packing list that is 4 pages long. Yay!

3. OK, so my husband is not a kid, but... So, the above-mentioned campout that my son is now attending allows families to choose tent camping or cabin camping. My husband was thrilled that he now has the chance to have some male bonding with our son and leave us 4 girls behind, and in his mind he pictured the cozy tent setting and informed me that cabins are for whimps (I must be a whimp!). Because we have never actually GONE camping before, we don't have a tent. My husband had that gleam in his eye. That usually means trouble. So I proceed to use my persuasive feminine wiles to inform him that it doesn't make sense to rush out and buy a cheap tent--we need to do research, then save up and buy a nice one we will all enjoy. After a bit, I got that OTHER look--the one in which he knows I am right, but he doesn't want to admit it. That's alright--the look says it all!

Redbox

Redbox is a red, free-standing movie rental kiosk in various grocery stores, gas stations, drug stores and even some restaurants. You need a credit card and email address to rent the movies, which cost $1 plus tax per night. Click here to visit the Redbox site, check for movie titles and locations. Each kiosk has a selection of movies in different genres ranging from "family" to "romance". The majority of the titles are newly released, but there is a small number of older titles as well.

To rent a movie, go the the kiosk and touch the "Rent with a Promo Code" button, and then follow the prompts, or enter the coupon code just before checkout. When you do, you will receive a one-day free rental. Any additional days you keep the movie will be charged at the usual $1/day.


Here are a few codes (codes are one-time use only):


BREAKROOM
REDBOX
DVDONME


Check http://www.insideredbox.com/redbox-codes/ for more free codes.


Happy Viewing!

Litany of Mary

The Litany in Honor of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, pray for us.
Holy Mother of God,*
Holy Virgin of virgins,
Mother of Christ,
Mother of divine grace,
Mother of the Church,
Mother most pure,
Mother most chaste,
Mother inviolate,
Mother undefiled,
Mother most amiable,
Mother most admirable,
Mother of good counsel,
Mother of our Creator,
Mother of our Savior,
Virgin most prudent,
Virgin most venerable,
Virgin most renowned,
Virgin most powerful,
Virgin most merciful,
Virgin most faithful,
Mirror of justice,
Seat of wisdom,
Cause of our joy,
Spiritual vessel,
Vessel of honor,
Singular vessel of devotion,
Mystical rose,
Tower of David,
Tower of ivory,
House of gold,
Ark of the covenant,
Gate of heaven,
Morning star,
Health of the sick,
Refuge of sinners,
Comforter of the afflicted,
Help of Christians,
Queen of angels,
Queen of patriarchs,
Queen of prophets,
Queen of apostles,
Queen of martyrs,
Queen of confessors,
Queen of virgins,
Queen of all saints,
Queen conceived without original sin,
Queen assumed into heaven,
Queen of the most holy rosary,
Queen of peace,

Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God,
That we may be made worth of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray. Grant, we beg you, O Lord God, that we Your servants may enjoy lasting health of mind and body, and by the glorious intercession of the Blessed Mary ever virgin, be delivered from present sorrow and enter into the joy of eternal happiness. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

* Pray for us is said after every invocation.