Oh Baby, I have some GREAT News!

Today I had my 16 week doctor appointment for the baby!  Everything went great!  It was a relatively uneventful.  I went in. I got weighed...only gained 2 lbs since my last appointment a month ago which called for a celebration and a stop to Dairy Queen on the way home!  I took a pee test to check the sugar in my urine.  Last but not least...hearing the heartbeat.  I heart this part of the day!  Baby McFarland's heartbeat was 150. 

The most wonderful news from the entire appointment was finding out that I don't have to wait 4 more weeks to get the ultrasound.  The doctor said that we could schedule it anytime now!   YAY!  The big day is May 14!  2 weeks until we find out if Baby McFarland is a boy or a girl!

In order to celebrate this great news, I am posting a poll of all our favorite baby names so you can give me your opinion.  NOTE***This is not however a way for anyone to post anything negative or unpleasant about the names on our list.  That is a pet peeve of mine!  Please feel free to vote on your favorite boy and favorite girl name!

A look into the future of parenthood!

Sometime in the last 24 hours, my normally carefree doggie Zuma has developed a phobia about walking across our laminate floor in the kitchen.  I think it is the sound of her nails scratching the floor that bothers her.  Now this is not the first time she has acted like this.  The last two times she has been to my parent's house, she acted in the same way.  However, this is the first time she has ever done it at our house, and we have had this floor for over a year. 

Tonight after discovering the phobia, my HHBL and I both attempted to cure her of this hideous disease. 

My tactic involved bribing her with her favorite snack of all time...Kraft cheese.  Normally, just the sound of the plastic opening is enough to bring her to my side.  I tried to slowly ease her into it by dropping small bites of cheese at the edge of the kitchen floor.  She slowly placed one paw after another onto the floor...BUT all she did was grab the cheese and ran like a mad man.  My next step was to hold a big piece of cheese out so she could see it and give her kind words of encouragement.  This didn't work either.  In the end, I was really  pissed off.

At this point, my HHBL enters the picture.  His solution to this problem was force.  He picked Zuma up and physically put her on the kitchen floor.  My oh my, now this was a sight to see.  Zuma freaked out and tried to make a run for it.  The two of us tried to corner her, but all the ended up happening was Zuma scratched her way out of it (literally, you can check out my foot).  At this point, my HHBL was pissed as well.  With that, we both gave up on the subject for the time being.

All of this made me think of the two of us who are months away of becoming parents.  There is no doubt about it that there will be many times in our lives when we are faced with parenting challenges.  What will my first move be...will I try to bribe my child to get what I want.  I guess only time will tell. 

Grocery Shopping...Frugalista Style

Monday is typically my grocery shopping day.  This works out perfectly since the new coupons come out on Sundays which gives me a day to get my game plan together. 

This week I hit up Meijer and CVS.  I really wasn't in dire need of anything so I just stocked up on good deals!  I did get some chili and tomato sauce to use in a recipe for Beefy Mexicali from the blog from a GOODE friend. Check it out at http://goodenessgracious.blogspot.com/. 

Here is a run down of both stops...

Meijer

Grand Total: $15.54

Total Saved: $31.96

Best Buys:

Lysol toilet bowl cleaner- 1/2 price at $1.19 minus $.50 coupon that doubled to $1.00 = $.19

Coffeemate coffee creamer- on sale for $.99 minus $.75 coupon = $.25

Snuggle Dryer Sheets- $3.48 minus $3.00 coupon = $.48

DanActive yogurt- marked down to $1.20 minus $1.00 coupon = $.20

CVS

Grand Total: $.47 + received $2.00 Extra Bucks for next purchase

Total Saved: $4.74

Best Buys:

Colgate Pro Clinical- $3.99 minus $1.00 coupon= $2.99

Palmolive Dish soup- $.88 minus $.75 coupon = $.13

I also used $2.99 worth of Extra Care Buck coupons from last weeks purchase.

Hope this inspires some of you to become frugalistas yourselves!

Ruby the Rhubarb Plant

This is a story about my Rhubarb plant named Ruby. 

Meet Ruby...

Ruby has been very prolific this year so I decided to experiment with a new recipe to use her bounty.  I found a recipe on allrecipes.com for Strawberry Rhubarb Jam that looked very tasty.

The recipe is very simple.  I started out by harvesting some of Ruby's stalks.  Her leaves are poisoneous so be sure not to use them.  Rinse off the stalks to remove all the dirt and soil. 

Next, chop up the rhubarb into 1 inch pieces until you get approximately 6 cups.

I was very excited about the next step.  I got to get out my food processor which is always a good time.  Pulse the 6 cups of rhubarb with 2 1/2 cups of sugar (or splenda).

Take the mush that is left and boil it for 5 minutes on high heat.

Almost done!  Remove from heat and add 1 (3 oz) box of strawberry gelatin.

Last step...place in a tupperware container and refrigerate!

Bon Appetite!  Ruby never tasted better!

Gourmet dinner for two!

Do you ever run out of ideas of what to make for supper?  Here at the McFarland Residence, it seems as if we are always eating the same old recipes.  Sure I enjoy trying new recipes now and again, but who feels like conquering the world after a long day of making chips at work.  I most certainly didn't feel up to the challenge tonight. 

So what is one supposed to do on a night like this?  Here is a great idea: pass the challenge on to someone else.  Tonight the lucky winner is my HHBL!  After several agonizing moments staring into the pantry, he made his choice.  Tonights gourmet dinner...beans and weanies. 

You gotta love the man. He looked so darn cute putting the meal together, even if I had to coach him through it. 

Zuma even gave him moral support every step of the way!  I am not sure what she was thinking.  I am guessing that she was either confused by what the heck he was doing in the kitchen or she was lured in by the smell of hot dogs wafting through the house.

Who needs a fancy four course meal when you can enjoy beans and weanies at home with the one you love!

So what's this frugalista you talk about?

I am guessing that there are many of you out there who are slightly confused about what a frugalista is.  You may even realize after this post that you too can be considered one. My main goal of today is to explain to you the definition of a frugalista. 

In my mind, the word frugal has a bad connotation to it. However, the word frugalista sounds hip and cool, as it should.  You will definitely feel hip when you start saving big bucks on groceries and bathroom necessities. Here are a few examples of what it means to be a frugalista.

For instance, you may be a frugalista if your bathroom cabinets look like this...

What is so abnormal about this you ask?  Besides the complete lack of organization, there are quite possibly 10 sticks of deodorant, 5 bottles of body wash, 4 boxes of tampons, 6 bottles of shampoo and countless other bathroom staples in which I either got for free or paid less than a dollar for. 

Here is another good example, you may be a frugalista if your deep freezer looks like this...

The frugalistas out there buy multiple quantities of items at the grocery store when there is a good deal and stuff it into the freezer to use at a later date.  I have learned from experience that there are few things out there than cannot be frozen and used later on.

You might be a frugalista if you have a handy, dandy, little coupon container like this...

This bad boy is a life saver.  It holds hundreds of coupons, and I can even sort them by type of food item making it easier on me at the grocery store.

So if any of these pictures reflect items found at your house, you are most likely already a frugalista.  For those of you out there who are searching for your innermost frugalista, you are in luck. Just continue to follow this blog for easy ideas and hints, and soon you too will be a frugalista. 

Welcome to my new adventure!

Welcome to my new blog!  Hopefully you will find my life slightly entertaining!  I plan on keeping you updated on the progress of my pregnancy (baby #1), current recipes from my kitchen, projects around the farm, and of course all the good deals and freebies I get each week!

It wouldn't be right to start this blog without introducing you to my wonderful family.  First and foremost, you need to meet my husband who happens to be the most handsome, charming, and witty character of the bunch.  For the sake of this blog, I will refer to him as my HHBL (hunk a hunk a burning love).

You might be wondering where the farm life comes in.  Well it just so happens that we live on a grain farm named Morehouse Ag in Brookston, Indiana.  My HHBL is a farm-hand there and also is co-owner of Morehouse Transport, a small trucking company that hauls corn and soybeans around Indiana. 

Now some useless and slightly uninteresting info about yours truly.  I am a soon-to-be new mom in my mid-twenties.  My days are spent making chips (yes chips, for real) at Frito Lay in Frankfort, Indiana.  The little time that I am not working, I like to spend time at home baking and gardening.  Both my and my husband's family live a couple hours away, so I am often doing little "experiments" in the kitchen to occupy my spare time. 

One more person (well she is a person in my mind) that I can't fail to mention is our dog, Zuma.  She is a mix of German Shepherd and Huskie.  Quite frankly, she was the women in my HHBL's life before I came along.  For this reason, she is spoiled rotten and gets away with pretty much anything imaginable.  She is a great listener and she always reasons with me when needed.  I'm sure other dog lovers will understand. 

Hope this gives you a little insight into my life!  Please come back and visit us again!