Living On One Income

I've heard over and over that a family cannot live on one income because the cost of living is so high. The cost of living is high, but I can say from experience, that it is possible. No, my husband didn't make a lot. His income was low enough to allow us government assistance - but we didn't take it. Why? We didn't need it!

We had a family of 4. No, the kids didn't have the latest and greatest video games, etc. They got them after they were out for a while and the price came down or they got them for Christmas/birthday from someone. They never felt like they were missing out, but ended up appreciating what they received more than their friends. They learned to work for what they wanted and saved up for things, too. This made them realize that all the time that it took to save, was not always worth the item they ended up purchasing.

The family was well dressed and well fed. I shopped at yard sales and thrift stores as well end of season clearances. It's amazing to me that we could get brand new clothes for almost nothing. Many times we got clothing with tags still on them for 25 cents or less and my winter coat cost $2 and still had the tags on it! The only thing we didn't buy used were undies, swim suits and shoes.

As for food, I didn't do the menu plan that everyone talks about. Instead, I'd scan the grocery flyers for excellent sales and then stock up on those items. I'd search the store for markdowns and buy them if they were a good price. By doing this every week, we had a nice little stock on our pantry shelves and I cooked from what I had there. There are times I'd use coupons as well. Our store would double and even sometimes triple them, but I found coupons are usually for prepared and junk food that really wasn't a savings, even after the coupon. I cooked a lot from scratch and made my own "groceries", ie: mixes and convenience foods. I also canned, froze and dehydrated foods as well.

No, we didn't have the newest things, but we never really seemed to miss them.  We always had enough - actually more than enough to keep everyone satisfied. Even on my husband's income, we still managed to put away more than 6 months of his salary in case of emergency. By the time the kids were in college, we had no debt and we were debt free quite a while before that! My husband lost his job, and didn't find anything for more than 6 months. When he did, we had to relocate and the money that was tucked away was the down payment on our new home. We ended up moving in one of the highest priced places in the state, but it was where the job was. When we sold our home, we got 10% of what this home cost - and this one wasn't nearly as expensive as those around the area. We got a "good deal" on this one!

Living on one income is not easy. It takes time and effort and it helps to have an attitude that you are satisfied with what you have. Yes, you will still see things you want, but impulse buying is not something one can or should do. Many people have buyer's remorse after an impulse purchase. Remember the clothing with tags we've bought at yard sales or thrift stores?

After moving here, I did work for awhile. We NEEDED a second car and extra car insurance, maintenance since my hours didn't match with my husband. I had to buy special clothes and shoes for work and with the job I had, they didn't last long. My shoes wore out in 3 months! I was buying 4 pair a year!  I'd get home exhausted and not feel like cooking, so we were eating prepared and take out. Our health declined, we gained weight and were sick more. I got injured at work and continued to re-injure myself, so when home, I wasn't doing much. My hours didn't allow for much time off, and I couldn't take off during normal vacation times, so we really couldn't do anything. My husband hardly ever saw me and neither of us was really happy. After all was said and done, my extra income wasn't really helping since much of it was going towards the extras that I had to have while working. The job was being more of a hindrance than anything!

I left work and we are again living on one income. We are back to eating better and all around living better.  My injury finally healed after a year (just like the doctor said!) and I am back to normal. No, I did not take workman's comp or disability although I was highly urged to. I saw no reason when I'm not planning on returning to work.

We sold the car and we are back down to one. I didn't need it any longer. There was a small adjustment period since I couldn't just hop in and go, but now,
I really don't miss it.

I'm back to cooking from scratch, canning, freezing, dehydrating and just enjoying life. I'm always learning new skills and honestly, I don't feel like I'm missing out at all. There is nothing I want or need - I have it all!

Life is Good!

Married life has certainly changed since the last time around. We have grown and I know that I've probably grown the most. Those years on my own gave me a greater perspective on what actually goes on in life. I never was truly on my own before - where I had no safety net. I went from my parents home, to rooming with someone to being married. Flying to another country and being 11,000 miles from home, away from anyone I knew, certainly put a new light on things.

Working, too, as an older person, was a challenge. Trying to find a job after being out of work for 26 years was difficult. No one was interested in hiring someone that "didn't do anything" for all that time. Homeschooling and doing other odds and ends just wasn't of interest to those that interviewed me. Finally, I found something that was not only a job, but a fun job... demoing products at Sam's Club. That got me the experience to get hired at a grocery store and then on to a job at the University.

I loved the job at the University, but after many hours of Bible Study, decided that after we remarried, that I would leave it and return home as a housewife. Both of my decisions were frowned upon by most of my friends. I was questioned over and over about the remarriage and then told I was crazy to leave my job - my source of independence!

You know, as much as I loved my job at the University, I don't miss it. It's funny, really. I do miss the people - they were a great team to work with, but I stay in contact with those that I made good friends with. The same with my past jobs. I may go back to demoing at Sam's a day or so a week, but right now, I just don't have the time! There are so many things I want to do and so many things that keep me busy right now, that I just don't seem to have enough time in the day, let alone adding work to it. I guess you could say I'm living the life of luxury now. I'm doing things I've been wanting to do that I couldn't with living in an apartment and with working all the hours I did.

Now, I am back doing those things I love: gardening, canning, dehydrating, knitting, reviewing, blogging, taking classes, working on making my house a home, trying new recipes, working on making a place for a craft room, etc. Most important, is having time for church, Bible study, family and friends. Those were the things that I missed doing most of all. I couldn't attend church because of my schedule at work and the time spent with visiting and enjoying the company of others was few and far between.

I am so lucky to have a second chance. I learned a very large lesson from all this - what is most important in life. God is soooo good!

Roasted Dandelion Root Coffee

Finally! After a long, dreary winter, spring has arrived! My favorite part about the spring is gathering up the fresh greens and flowers that are packed full of vitamins and minerals and are super tasty. This year I have dried my dandelion leaves, flowers and made the roots into a wonderful roasted "coffee".

The "coffee" is a not actually coffee but makes a wonderful substitute. It has a nice flavor - a somewhat coffee, caramel and chocolate flavor combination. It's hard to describe, but with a little bit of cream and a touch of honey - it's pretty much heaven! The spring crop of roots are much more mild than the fall crop. The fall is more robust and bitter and packed with more vitamins and minerals because the roots are storing all the nutrition required to make a strong plant in the spring. Fall is the best time to harvest for drying roots for their medicinal value and for the most robust coffee, but I love the spring harvest as well! 

I dig up my dandelions whole and try to get as much as the root as possible. They are long and do easily break off. I found it best to try to run a long screwdriver or a dandelion removing down next to the root as closely as possible and break the ground around it by wiggling it back and forth. If difficult to remove, I will do this around the plant. A shovel works, too, but it leaves a lot more mess to deal with and depending where you harvest your plants, you may not want to leave holes behind.

After digging the dandelions, I pre-rinse with a hose to get rid of as much dirt as possible. Then I put the whole plant in a 5 gallon bucket and rinse, drain, rinse, drain, rinse, drain.... until the water looks quite clean. Next, I cut off the top part of the plant and put in two separate piles.

I then put the roots in a bowl and soak for a little bit. Then I rinse a few more times and try to swish off as much of the remaining dirt as possible.

I then use a scrub brush to take off the remaining dirt. I like putting a small cutting board in the bottom of the sink to have something to scrub on. If the roots have a lot of off-shoots, I'll break them apart to get in between them.

Then I put them in my food processor and chop until the pieces resemble brown rice.

Next I pour them on a cookie sheet and put them in a 225 degree oven and let them dry. This can take about an hour. 

I then check to see how they are drying by stirring every 10 to 20 minutes or so. Drying times will depend on the day, your oven, how large the pieces are, etc.

After the pieces are dry, I increase the oven temperature to 325 and continue to bake. Now the roasting process has started. I kept a close eye on it and mixed every 10 minutes. I love this part because when the root is almost ready to remove from the oven, it has the most amazing aroma of baking a chocolate cake or brownies! 

Some people will remove the root as soon as they see small wisps of smoke coming from the root. I put mine back in a bit longer. I like a darker roast. I find it to have a bit more of a robust flavor. 

After removing from the oven, I let it cool and then put it in a jar. The contents in the jar are much more true in color to the actual end product. 

To use:

Put water in a pan and bring to a boil. Add the dandelion root, stir well and boil for 1 minute. Make sure it doesn't boil over because it will produce foam on top. You will need 1 tsp. of Roasted Dandelion Root Coffee per 8 oz of water (adjust to taste). Serve with a little cream and honey if desired.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a qualified/licensed instructor or certified to teach wildcrafting, using herbs or explaining how to identify any plant I use or speak of in these posts. This is only describing what I did and how I use the item described in MY home with MY family. I am not to be held responsible for any misinformation or any mishaps if anyone decides to try this at home. If you decide to try this method - it is at your own risk. Please research and study any plants, methods and side effects of the plant describe in this post.

Free ONE YEAR Subscription to Ladies' Home Journal

Get a free one year subscription to Ladies' Home Journal. No strings attached, no credit card needed and no automatic renewals. Just CLICK HERE and fill out the form. You can uncheck the earn cash for opinions box and you don't have to take any other offers.

Hurry - offer will expire when they run out of the limited amount of sponsored subscriptions.

Free 12 Month Subscription to Better Homes & Garden Magazine

Get a free 12 month subscription to Better Homes & Garden Magazine. No strings attached, no credit card needed and no automatic renewals. Just CLICK HERE and fill out the form. You can uncheck the earn cash for opinions box and you don't have to take any other offers.

Hurry - offer will expire when they run out of the limited amount of sponsored subscriptions.

Still Settling In - Downsizing/Repurposing Furniture

We didn't officially move into our new home until the kids were on winter break from the university. It seemed like the most logical decision because of the travel involved, plus it was exciting coming here all at the same time as a family. The kids love our new home, even though it is small. They say they love the cozy feeling plus the area is amazing - an added bonus!

One of my largest issues at this time is the downsizing we need to do. Storage space is almost non-existent, so I'm at that point of deciding what really is important and what can I live without. Not only that, but most of our furniture won't work here, so we are slowly acquiring "new" furniture.

One of the items we won't be using is our old waterbed - sorely outdated and one of the few things I was glad to get rid of. Instead of tossing it all, hubby repurposed it into a nice new bed for us!

Waterbed frame cut, resized and legs added.

Next came the support posts.

Then a nice stable surface to put our new Memory Foam type mattress on - But only after we covered the plywood with something that would protect the mattress.

The finished product.

We still need to add a headboard. I want to make an upholstered headboard (like this one), but am waiting until I find the perfect fabric. I'm thinking of a red and white print or something with red in it.

I have many projects ahead of me - refinishing, repurposing, and making new. I plan to furnish our home as cheaply, yet beautifully as possible! I would love to hear what you have done for your home.

Canning Broccoli Soup

Broccoli Soup (middle)

Broccoli crowns were on sale at our local grocery store, so I decided to try the Broccoli Soup recipe in my Fagor "Home Canning Cookbook" to see if it would be something I'd like to stock on the shelves for this winter. I canned my first batch of 4 jars, let it stand for a few days, and then we ate it. The verdict: Everyone really liked it! In fact, the kids LOVED it and have asked for me to put up "tons" of it. LOL It's a really nice recipe, good alone, or if you want broccoli and cheese, just sprinkle some cheddar on it and let it melt - just yummy.

Broccoli Soup

1 1/2 pounds broccoli, whole
1/2 onion, peeled and chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons margarine or vegetable oil (I used butter)
1/4 cup uncooked white rice
5 cups vegetable or chicken broth (this came out to 3 cans 14.5 oz size)
Tabasco sauce to taste
Salt & Pepper to taste

Cut broccoli florets from the stalks. Peel stalks and slice into 1-inch pieces. Saute broccoli, onions, and garlic, in butter. In a large saucepan, combine the sauteed vegetables with the rice and broth. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer gently until vegetables are very soft. Puree soup in blender. (I used my Braun handheld and blended it in the pot). Return to stockpot and add the Tabasco, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Cook for an additional 5 minutes. Ladle into jars, leaving a 1 inch headspace. Cap and seal. Place in pressure canner with 2-3 inches of hot water (or amount recommended for your brand of pressure canner). Process for 40 minutes at 15 pounds (Fagor's HIGH setting).

Please note: There is no conversion for those at higher altitudes in this book. I'm just below 1000 ft. above sea level, so I don't have to worry about it. For those above 1000 ft. above sea level, please contact your local Cooperative Extension Office for advice on safe times and pressure settings.

EveryDayWillow Wool Dryer Balls - Favorite of 2011

Going through different stores and websites, I have come across different versions of dryer balls - all claiming that they can soften your clothes and reduce dryer time. I've been skeptical at the very least. Most balls were synthetic and heavy and somewhat pricey (in my opinion), just to put in my dryer, make lots of noise and possibly ruin my clothes and still not make any difference.

When I got the chance to try EveryDayWillow Wool Dryer Balls, I jumped at the chance, because I wanted in the worst way to prove that these things were nothing more than an expensive "gimmick". I just couldn't comprehend HOW a couple balls in the dryer would reduce the drying time of my clothing and not come out all full of static. I was prepared to write a review warning every consumer to save their money.

Well, that's not going to happen. The EveryDayWillow Wool Dryer Balls have blown me away. These very simplistic items ended up being my absolute FAVORITE item that I was able to test and review for 2011!

I received three balls, very well packaged and in a box like the one shown above. They appeared to be very well constructed and in the most gorgeous jewel tones: Spearmint, Dragonberry, and Grape Jelly. They were made of 100% wool and had a somewhat firm feel to them. They came with directions and also a claim that these colored balls would not harm whites. I was skeptical that these beautiful dark jewel tones would not transfer any color to my whites.

The first load that I used the balls with came out full of static. See - I was sure these wouldn't work. I emailed Catherine at The Willow Store and she told me I had over-dried my clothes and to lessen the time next time. I knew that wouldn't work, because we have an OLD dryer (from 1970) that normally won't dry a load of clothes without adding extra time.

The next load, I backed off a bit more and still had static. BUT my clothes were dry the first time through! I continued this experiment and found we were knocking off 20 minutes or more with DRY clothes and NO STATIC!!

Then it was time to try the whites. I was so skeptical that I used with a load of white work rags to make sure  there would be no transfer of color. I had no problem at all. I became braver, and did out white towels and finally our good clothes.

All this took a lot more time than I had expected to do a review for The Willow Store. My turn-around wasn't as fast as I had originally thought. When I found the balls really did cut down on my dryer time, then it was to see how much I was going to save.  The first full month's electric bill was down $20. The second month was down about the same, even with the per kilowatt price increase!!  That's INCREDIBLE!

The balls are holding up nicely. They did seem to get a little firmer and are getting those balls that wool sweaters get, but outside of that, I see nothing that says these guys won't last a long, long time!

A set of three balls like those that I received cost $19.95 (at the time of this review). We are normally a household of two now that the kids are in college, and with the savings we saw, these guys paid for themselves in the first month, just in the electric bill alone. Imagine the savings one could see over the next year in the electric bill alone. Plus no more smelly dryer sheets or liquid fabric softener and less wear and tear on the dryer. With a larger family, one could see an even more substantial savings!

You will need to experiment as I did to find out how much time you can cut off your drying time, as each dryer is different. You will also find different clothes, fabric weights and types of cloth will also require different lengths of time to dry. It is a bit fussy at first, but in just a few loads of laundry, you will be able to determine how long is needed and for what type of clothing. For me, the hardest thing about using these balls is sometimes finding them. I've found them in pockets, sleeves, and pant legs before, but certainly a small inconvenience next to the savings I see on my electric bill!

EveryDayWillow Wool Dryer Balls are most definitely the best product I've used and tested in 2011! Thank you to Catherine at The Willow Store for providing me a set of these to use and honestly review.

The "What's for Dinner?" Solution by Kathi Lipp

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Kathi Lipp

and the book:

The "What's for Dinner?" Solution

Harvest House Publishers (October 1, 2011)

***Special thanks to Karri | Marketing Assistant, Harvest House Publishers for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kathi Lipp is a busy conference and retreat speaker, currently speaking each year to thousands of women throughout the United States. She is the author of The Husband Project and The Marriage Project and has had articles published in several magazines, including Today’s Christian Woman and Discipleship Journal. Kathi and her husband, Roger, live in California and are the parents of four teenagers and young adults.

Visit the author's website.

SHORT BOOK DESCRIPTION:

For many women, dread turns to panic around 4:00 in the afternoon. That’s when they have to answer that age-old question, “What’s for dinner?” Many resort to another supermarket rotisserie chicken or—worse yet—ordering dinner through a drive-thru intercom.

In The “What’s for Dinner” Solution, popular author and speaker Kathi Lipp provides a full-kitchen approach for getting dinner on the table every night. After putting her 21-day plan into action, women will

* save time—with bulk shopping and cooking
* save money—no more last-minute phone calls to the delivery pizza place
* save their sanity—forget the last-minute scramble every night and know what they’re having for dinner

The book includes real recipes from real women, a quick guide to planning meals for a month, the best shopping strategies for saving time and money, and tips on the best ways to use a slow cooker, freezer, and pantry.

With Kathi’s book in hand, there’s no more need to hit the panic button.

Product Details:

List Price: $12.99
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers (October 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0736938370
ISBN-13: 978-0736938372

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

Girl Meets Kitchen, or Not

Necessarily a Love Story

“Happy and successful cooking doesn’t rely only on know-how;
it comes from the heart, makes great demands on the palate and needs enthusiasm and a deep love of food to bring it to life.”

Georges Blanc, from Ma Cuisine des Saisons


I was not the kind of kid who grew up at my mom’s knee, helping her chop carrots for Sunday night’s chicken soup. I never really helped with any meal preparation, preferring to turn my attention in the kitchen to baking. There was always some social event with friends or a youth group party where I needed to bring brownies. The one memorable time I tried to make instant potatoes? Instead of the specified one-quarter tablespoon of salt, I used a quarter cup salt. That incident happened over twenty-five years ago, and I have yet to stop hearing about it from my loving and encouraging family.

Suffice to say, I was a bit ill-prepared for the cooking adventures that lay ahead as I lived on my own for the first time. And to complicate matters? My first apartment was in Uji, Japan, approximately seven thousand miles from my mother’s loving embrace and her pot-roast recipe (as if I could afford beef in Japan).

The recipe cards were stacked against me. No cooking skills to speak of, living in a foreign land where most of the time I couldn’t identify what I was eating much less figure out how it was prepared, a kitchen the size of my coat closet back home, and an oven so small it made me long for the Easy-Bake one of my childhood.

I was terrified going to the supermarket without an escort and a translator. I didn’t speak the language (as a short-term missionary teaching conversational English, speaking Japanese was actually a disadvantage in my job), and as unfamiliar as I was with food shopping in the U.S., shopping in Uji was like watching a foreign movie without subtitles and then having to write a paper on the plot.

Oh, and eating out? So not an option. While my cooking skills were limited, my food budget was near nonexistent.

A few things were easy to recognize. The bread in Japan was amazing. It was buttery and flaky and perfect. And there was some really lovely cheese and ham. So, for the first three months of exploring this exotic new culture, I ate ham and cheese sandwiches every single night for dinner.

As I started to get to know some of my students and coworkers better, I had this urge to invite them over to hang out with me. But I had a sneaking suspicion they would want to be fed. I knew that my students would love some authentic American dishes. The question was, Who would I get to cook them?

Another short-term missionary, Diana, had a cookbook called More-With-Less. This wonderful little book produced by the Mennonite community had tons of recipes that used simple ingredients most cooks would have in their kitchen. While I didn’t have a lot of pantry staples in my four-story walk-up, I was now armed with a grocery list as well as an English-to-Japanese dictionary for my trips to the store.

I started to look for simple things I could make: salads, sandwiches, curries, and mini-pizzas out of English muffins and ketchup. (I promise, my culinary skills and taste have gotten better over the years.) As I grew braver in all things cuisine, I started to ask my mom to send some of my favorite recipes from back home.

In fact, when I threw a Christmas celebration with my friend Spenser in my micro-sized apartment, we managed to make a fondue-potless version of my mom’s Pizza Fondue. Shopping for the ingredients proved challenging, even for Spenser who spoke near-fluent Japanese. After several attempts to translate cornstarch into the native language (One would think corn + starch = cornstarch, right? Wrong. It’s pronounced korunstarcha.), we headed back to my kitchen and made one of the best meals I have ever eaten—lots of tomato sauce, some ground beef, loads of cheese, and just the right amount of korunstarcha.

Pizza Fondue
(Connie Richerson)

½ lb. ground beef

1 small onion, chopped

2 10½-oz. cans pizza sauce (I use marinara sauce)

1 T. cornstarch (or korunstarcha, if you prefer)

1½ tsp. oregano

¼ tsp. garlic powder

2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 loaf French bread

Brown the ground beef and onion; drain. Put meat, sauce, cornstarch, and spices in fondue pot. When cooked and bubbly, add cheese. Spear crusty French bread cubes, then dip and swirl in fondue. This is also delicious with breadsticks. Serves 4 to 6.

From that point on, I was hooked on collecting my favorite recipes. I bought my own copy of More-With-Less when I got back to the States, and when I got married a few months later, I received my very first copy of everyone’s favorite red-and-white-plaid Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, with every recipe an emerging home cook could want.

I think most of us home cooks have a similar story to tell. OK, you probably didn’t have your first significant cooking experience in Uji, Japan, but I bet the first few times you got dinner on the table all on your own, you might as well have been in a different country.

Maybe your mom had you peeling potatoes before you could walk. Maybe you have a rich heritage of recipes passed down from your grandmother. None of our cooking histories are going to look the same, but we do have one thing in common: We all need to get dinner on the table.

I am not a professional cook. Tom Colicchio will never be critiquing my braised kale and chocolate with bacon foam on Top Chef. But over the past twenty years I have put dinner on the table almost every single night. And while my family still likes a pizza from the neighborhood shop, our kids who have left home really look forward to coming back for a home-cooked meal.

That is all the reward I need.

Why This Book?

So, you discovered my deep dark secret—I’m not a professional chef. I don’t have my own show on Food Network, my own brand of spatulas, and I’m not going to be appearing on any morning show making a frittata for Kathie Lee Gifford.

Still, I’m required to feed our large family almost daily. So when I come across a cookbook, I have an unnatural need to own it. I’m always looking for new recipes to keep dinner interesting at our house. I have an entire bookshelf in my kitchen for my ever-growing collection.

But to be honest with you, most of the money I’ve spent on those cookbooks could have been better spent on a good set of knives or a heavy iron skillet.

I have found that most cookbooks are aimed at the fantasy life many of us aspire to—entertaining regularly, having unusual and exotic ingredients on hand, and hours and hours in the kitchen to create these masterpieces, from scratch.

And then there is my reality. Yes, sometimes I like to spend a Saturday afternoon cooking up a big feast for friends and family. But most days? I want to get a delicious, healthy meal on the table quickly.

My test when I’m purchasing new cookbooks? I flip to a half dozen or so recipes throughout the book and ask myself, Can I imagine cooking this recipe in the next couple of weeks? If most of the recipes fail the test, the book stays at the store.

I want the reality. I want dinner on the table every night without being seduced by pictures of stylist-arranged food that—let’s be honest—I’m never going to prepare.

While those books offer up a lot of grilled-chicken-in-a-peanut-sauce-in-the-sky dreams, I need some reality. It’s not just about the recipe; it’s about all the aspects of getting dinner on the table.

By the end of this book, my hope for you is that you will be able to:

save time, money, and energy when it comes to
preparing meals
have less stress when it comes to shopping
get your kitchen prepared for battle
learn some stress-free ways to get dinner on the table
get out of your cooking rut
This book is all about the process, the how of getting dinner on the table. It reflects the collective wisdom of hundreds of women who don’t have prep cooks or a crew of interns trying out new recipes. We are the women who spend a significant part of our days thinking about, shopping for, and preparing dinner. And all these wise, wonderful women are going to show you a better way to get dinner on the table no matter what your cooking background or skill level.

This is the book I wish I’d had when I first started cooking, as well as when I was raising my brood of pint-sized food critics.

Don’t worry, there will be plenty of recipes. We all love to find that one recipe that is going to become a family favorite! But this book has much more than that. My hope is that you will be able to use the recipes you already have, the ones in this book, and the new ones you find along the way to set a big, bountiful table for your family.

My Thoughts:

This is a book that needs to be in every homemaker's kitchen library! I know I wish there was a resource like this when I was first married. It would have made my life so much easier.

Kathi Lipp gives the reader many tips and sound advice to help decide on dinner. She covers pantry and freezer meals, menus, buying and cooking in bulk, plus many more excellent helps that will make meal preparation something one no longer has to dread doing. A real bonus in this book are the delicious recipes.

This would make an excellent gift for the new bride or for the seasoned cook. This comes with a two-thumbs up recommendation from everyone here in our family!