Marlo took the kids on an evening stroll after dinner tonight. On their way back home, they came across two baby birds that had fallen out of their nest. At first they feared that the birds did not survive, but the tiny chicks started to move. The kids quickly called me to help rescue the birds.
With the help of my gardening tools, I moved one bird out of the grass into a cleared area, which was where its sibling had fallen.
Using his smartphone, Marlo searched “What to do with chicks that fall out of a nest” and found “A Guide To Assisting Wildlife Babies: What to do when you find them.” The article said to return the nestling birds to their nest, if possible. We looked up into the tree and discovered that the nest was turned upside down and dangling from a branch. Clearly, these birds could not be returned to their original home.
After reading the rest of the article, we decided to make a new nest. We felt we had to protect the birds from local cats, dogs, raccoons, oppossums, and other critters. I also did not think that the birds would be strong enough to fly away by the time the landscapers came back to take care of the lawn.
I poked some drainage holes into a plastic carry out food container. I also ran some pipe cleaners through the holes so the nest could be wired into the tree. Once that was complete, we lined the container with a paper towel, leaves, and dried grass. Using the aforementioned gardening tools, I gently placed the baby birds into the makeshift nest. Marlo used his ladder and secured the nest back into the tree as close to the original nest as possible.
While Marlo was up in the tree, I heard a strange noise that kept repeating over and over again. I searched the grass for another baby bird and realized that the noise was coming from up in the tree. It was the Momma Bird! She was calling to her babies. I think she even had bug in her mouth to feed her chicks.
As soon as the nest was safely in place, we all went inside the house to watch from the window. Sure enough, the Momma Bird reunited with her nestlings. We watched the mother bird fly back and forth to the new nest with food and other items for her babies.
We tried to use this experience to teach the kids the beauty of nature and the value of life. I think they were able to absorb some of the impromptu lesson, but they were very eager to look for worms and bugs to feed the baby birds. Since it was past their bedtime, I convinced the kids to let the Momma Bird take care of her babies from now on. I promised that we would check on them again tomorrow. It will be bittersweet when the baby birds are able to fly away on their own.
Since I do not work outside the home right now, I try to save money wherever and whenever I can. I carefully study the grocery sale papers every week and clip or print coupons. I closely monitor how my children and I spend my family’s money.
As much as possible, I try to do my part to help others while still maintaining our finances. The biggest way I do this is by sharing my children’s clothing with family, friends, freecycle, and the Salvation Army. We appreciate receiving hand-me-downs, so we always continue the cycle.
Another thing I do is donate my unused and/or expired coupons to the military families stationed overseas. I clip ALL the coupons from my Sunday newspaper, even the pet food ones and others I know I won’t use. Sometimes I’ll even ask my friends and family for their coupons when they are done with them. Then once a month, I mail all the coupons to a military base in Japan that I adopted through the Overseas Coupon Program. Military families are allowed to use expired coupons up to six months past their expiration date. These families often have just one income, so these coupons can really make a difference. The postage to send the coupons overseas is the standard domestic rate since it goes to a US base, but an international customs form is required. This is an easy and inexpensive way to support our military.
“The Drugstore Game” is a method I learned from sites such as Money Saving Mom and Krazy Coupon Lady. Money Saving Mom wrote “In a nutshell, the Drugstore Game is taking advantage of the rebate programs at CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens to get household and beauty products for pennies on the dollar — or even more than free!” I go to CVS and Walgreens at least once a week to purchase items that are either on sale, have coupons, or generate Extra Bucks or Register Rewards. Sometimes a product is all three of those things, allowing me to spend only pennies for tax and then receive free items AND vouchers for future purchases. My bathroom cabinets are filled with body wash and toothpaste that I received free, or even got paid to take. I often collect these drugstore game goodies and take them to my local food pantry. I’m sure they would be greatly appreciated at a battered women’s shelter or homeless shelter as well. My local pantry is the Niles Township Food Pantry. They collect and distribute food, personal items, and even school supplies for children.
One of the easiest ways that I help my children’s school is by clipping the Box Tops for Education that are on all kinds of General Mills products such as Cherrios cereal, Nature Valley granola bars, Chex Mix, and Gogurts yogurt as well as other household items like Kleenex tissues and Huggies diapers, Pull Ups, and OverNights. Each little pink logo is worth ten cents to the school. While this may not sound like it’s worth the hassle of cutting out, participating schools earned more than $10 million in the 2008-09 school year alone! My children often bring me empty boxes and ask me to help them cut out the “moneys.” Then I just send their teachers an envelope full of the little pink papers so they can submit them and receive money for their school.
SuperValu and General Mills have partnered together for the Box Tops for Education program and are generously offering one lucky winner a $25 American Express gift card through MyBlogSpark. I believe this gift card can be used anywhere, including any of the SuperValu stores (ACME, Albertsons, Cub, Farm Fresh and Jewel-Osco.) If you would like a chance to win this $25 gift card, please leave a comment with a creative or unusual way you help your family, school, or community by June 8th. The winning comment will be randomly selected and announced on June 9th.
For a long time, house keeping materials in my home consisted mainly of my Dyson vacuum and baby wipes. Once I discovered that baby wipes could be used to clean baby food off of walls just as easily as a child’s skin, I began using them for everything. I have used baby wipes to clean dried yogurt off the kitchen table, mop up mud tracked onto my carpet, and even removed “washable” crayon marks from wood furniture. I cannot imagine how I was able to live the majority of my life without baby wipes.
In an effort to become more green and eco-friendly, I am trying to wean myself off of disposable baby wipes in favor of reusable sponges, washcloths, and towels. I am also avoiding antibacterial soaps containing triclosan and purchasing refillable products when available.
My favorite refill product so far is the White Tea & Vitamin E Dial Eco-Smart Refill. This refill is packaged in a soft pouch rather than a bulky plastic bottle.
I use this liquid hand soap to refill both my regular soap dispensers and my foaming soap dispensers. My article “How to: Refill Foaming Hand Soap Pumps” describes how to add one part liquid soap to four parts water to make a less expensive, non-antibacterial foaming hand soap refill.
When MyBlogSpark offered me the opportunity to sample several Seventh Generation products, I was thrilled. On their about page, Seventh Generation describes themselves as being “committed to becoming the world’s most trusted brand of authentic, safe, and environmentally-responsible products for a healthy home.” Seventh Generation uses natural CleanWell instead of triclosan to make their disinfecting products. Earlier this month, the FDA wrote “At this time, FDA does not have evidence that triclosan added to antibacterial soaps and body washes provides extra health benefits over soap and water. Consumers concerned about using hand and body soaps with triclosan should wash with regular soap and water.”
MyBlogSpark and Seventh Generation sent me several cleaning products and supplies to sample and review. I really believe in the Seventh Generation philosophy, so I eagerly anticipated the cleaning kit in the mail. As soon as they arrived, my husband and I used them to give our kitchen and bathroom a much needed deep cleaning. The Disinfecting Multi-Surface Cleaner, Bathroom Cleanser, and Disinfecting Wipes all cleaned my hard surfaces quickly and easily, but we could not get past the oddly familiar yet slightly unpleasant Lemongrass and Thyme scent.
The brown paper towels we received were unbleached and made from 100% recycled paper. Unfortunately, they are not as absorbent as the Bounty paper towels I am used to. I ended up using twice as many paper towels to dry hands, wipe up spills, or soak up oil from food.
All the Seventh Generation Disinfectants are only available in the Lemongrass and Thyme scent, but there is an unscented Free & Clear line that I am looking forward to trying. I plan to join the Seventh Generation Nation so I can print coupons before my next purchase.
If you would like to try the Seventh Generation Disinfecting products for free, please post a comment below. One lucky reader will win a Seventh Generation Cleaning Kit containing disinfecting products, paper towels, a carrying tote, and “The Conscious Kitchen” book. The winner will be announced on Monday, May 10th. The cleaning kits have been generously provided by Seventh Generation through MyBlogSpark.
I recently discovered the Heavenly Homemakers blog. The woman who runs it, Laura, seems to do it all. She home-schools all four of her children, grows and cans her own food, cooks and cleans for her family, and still has time to maintain a very popular blog.
One of my favorite recipes on her site is the High Five Recipes: Cream Scalloped Potatoes. It’s a part of her High 5 Recipe Series with 5 ingredients or less. As you all know, I am a fan of recipes with five ingredients or less. I have already posted the following recipes with 3-5 ingredients on MarloElaine.com:
* Decadent Oreo Truffles Recipe
* Delightful Cucumber Sandwiches Recipe
* Hearty Chili Cheese Dip Recipe
* Perfect Prosciutto Pasta Recipe
* Super Easy Costco Salmon Recipe
For dinner last week, I was able to make 2 different dishes with a total of only 5 ingredients. I made a variation of my Super Easy Costco Salmon Recipe, so I modified the Heavenly Homemakers recipe a bit to accommodate what I had on hand. The results were delicious!
3 Ingredient Baked Costco Salmon
Ingredients:
2 pounds of boneless salmon fillet
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 envelope of onion soup mix
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place the salmon in a Pyrex baking pan or foil covered baking sheet.
3. Pour the olive oil and sprinkle the onion soup mix over the salmon.
4. Massage the oil and seasonings into the fish to coat all surfaces of the salmon evenly.
5. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30-40 minutes or until the internal temperature of the thickest part is 145 degrees.
6. Serve with 3 Ingredient Cream Scalloped Potatoes and vegetables.
3 Ingredient Cream Scalloped Potatoes
Ingredients:
6 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups cream
1/2 envelope of onion soup mix
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Layer the potato slices in a Pyrex baking pan or foil covered baking sheet.
3. Mix the cream and the onion soup mix together, breaking up any lumps.
4. Pour the cream mixture over the potatoes, stirring to coat.
5. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 40-60 minutes, stirring every 15-20 minutes.
6. When the potatoes are fork tender, remove from the oven. The starch from the potatoes should have thickened the cream mixture into a lovely gravy.
7. Serve with 3 Ingredient Baked Salmon and vegetables.
I enjoy watching Mark Bittman as The Minimalist on our TiVo’d New York Times recordings. Today I watched him make Chicken and Vegetable Cobbler. Normally when I watch Bittman’s programs, I become hungry, but not necessarily inspired to cook. Today was a rare occasion. I actually had all of the ingredients on hand! Well, close enough that I could make my variation of his dish anyways.
I had some ground turkey in the fridge that I was planning on cooking with chorizo to make taco meat, but that never materialized. I also had some baby carrots and celery that I intended for snacking, but that didn’t work out either. I had half a carton of white mushrooms left over from last weekend’s sausage, mushroom, and onion egg white omelette. What pushed me over the edge was the refrigerated biscuit dough that I purchased just this morning during a really good sale and with a coupon (double bonus!). So I set about preparing my version of Bittman’s Chicken Cobbler, which he compares to a Chicken Pot Pie without all the work.
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