Christmas gifts

Two years ago I read an article about how I should be tipping not only my mail carrier at the holidays, but my local sanitation workers as well.

At this point, I had been a taxpaying adult with my very own dumpster for roughly four years. Oops. Four years in which Emily Post was hanging her head in shame at my kind.

At least I had been giving the mailman a card and gift (because I knew his name and had spoken to him on several occasions) so I was at least 33.333% polite.

As if I didn't already worry enough, the revelation opened a whole new Christmas themed field to stress about: how much should I tip the people who provide the valuable service of garbage removal each week? How about the recycling people? Cash or gift? How many of each? I think there are two men who take the trash and one who takes the recycling but I'm not entirely sure.

And the logistics: I had been leaving a small present and a card for the mailman attached to the mailbox (hopefully not a federal offense; if it is, let me know and I will repent of my criminal ways). But short of standing outside all day, how would I deliver said tip? Even I in my tipping ignorance know it would be rude (and possibly foolhardy) to tape a present to the lid of my dumpster.

Then bring in the question of money. If I'm going to do this, I want to do it right. I don't want to insult my garbage collector by being cheap but I don't want to overcompensate either.

There may be someone out there who gets all this stuff right, year after year. But I'm guessing the majority of us are just figuring it out as we go along. So instead of letting my worry control me I'll focus on what the season is really all about. Peace on earth and not anxiety. Good will and gratitude toward others and not stress over what to "get" them.

But now that I know you're supposed to tip sanitation workers, I expect a huge tip from someone for whom I provide the very important task of waste removal several times a day. She's only 16 months old but it's not too early for her to learn proper etiquette. Though I will accept a hug and kiss in lieu of cash.

I hate being sick

You would think after seven years of daily nausea, etc. that I would be used to stomach illness, but being gluten free spoiled me. 

Now when I'm actually sick (and it has nothing to do with gluten) I feel somewhat betrayed. Didn't I already pay my dues, thereby getting me out of stomach bug duty for the next 58 years?

Oh, it doesn't work that way? Too bad. 

So instead I'm taking it easy and being thankful that Little Girl is still easily entertained by making a mess and picking it up.

Today I'm also thinking of and praying for those affected by the tornadoes in Indiana and Illinois, as well as remembering those in Oklahoma still recovering from their own bad weather six months ago. 

Thoughts on pizza making...

With much self-sacrifice**, I made my husband a "regular" pizza crust last night. Amazingly, I still had wheat flour (albeit at the very back of the top shelf of the pantry). More amazingly, it had not expired.

**it wasn't that much of a sacrifice; see below.

Why did I ever think baking from scratch was hard? With **one** flour? I guess it's similar to the adjustment from zero kids to one. You wonder how on earth you will manage but once you get the hang of one, adding a second makes your job only about 12% harder instead of twice as hard.

After making the pizza crust with only four ingredients, one of which was salt, I made this crust.

In case I haven't mentioned it, this blogger is one of my gluten free heroes. I've loved everything I've made from her blog (and I kind of went nuts baking over the last month so speak from experience). In fact, I made a double batch of this pizza crust without trying it first. That's how much I trust her and her recipes. Check it out. Chocolate chip cookies! Sandwich bread! Things I thought I would do without until I could afford $5 for something that used to cost $1!

I did substitute additional sorghum flour for the teff, though, as my gluten free budget needs a break. When I went nuts baking as I mentioned earlier, I kind of also went nuts on the flour buying.

Which I guess disqualifies me as a cheapskate, but let me preface by saying that I buy in bulk at the best prices I can find. Also, I only buy one new type of flour every few months, making substitutions when I can. Despite the high cost of flours, making from scratch is definitely cheaper than buying pre-packaged GF stuff. Talk about sticker shock!

This isn't a picture of me. Nor is it a picture of pizza. With a hungry toddler fussing at my feet, I never remember to take pictures. So here is a semi-related picture of Big Girl making lasagna. Otherwise this post would just be a big block of text. You're welcome.

Anyway, my pizza turned out fantastic tasting, though I don't think I rolled the dough thin enough to cook in the time allotted (which is all user error and not recipe error). I was using a smaller pan and thought cooking it longer would compensate. It did cook through but was just a little "breadier" of a crust than I'm used to (ahem, cracker-like crust, I'm looking at you).

So do I miss the convenience of Little Caesar's? You bet. But I'm also glad to have two decent pizza places within five miles as well as awesome DIY recipes. I'm so glad it isn't 20 years ago.

Disclaimer: please don't get upset with me for baking a glutenated crust in my kitchen. I know some people wouldn't be able to handle the cross-contamination. However, I have weighed the risks with my level of sensitivity and I feel comfortable with the amount of precautions I take. Your mileage may vary, obviously.

This frugality lesson brought to you by Elmo

I was doing some grocery shopping this morning while waiting to pick up our Christmas pictures (who's on top of things? Yes, that's right: me!!) and came across these in the clearance bin for a quarter.

It took me a second to figure out but finally I realized they are travel toothbrush holders. Here's where my frugal self and my earth friendly self butted heads.

Earth friendly self: "You don't need these. They are plastic and cheap looking."

Frugal self: "But they're only a quarter and what will you use instead?"

Whereupon EFS shamefully admits to wrapping the bristles in toilet paper (I'm sure her kids enjoy the two-ply mixed in with their toothpaste).

So into the cart they went and I had a small epiphany that reconciled my two selves. In an ideal world wherein I would make my own sustainable toothbrush cover and/or not use a toothbrush in the first place and opt for brushing with a twig, these would be waste. But I live in the real world, where these will get used at least four times a year and might possibly last indefinitely (i.e. until my kids are too embarrassed to have Elmo in their toiletry bag).

Which brings us to the moral of this story:
No waste is nice but a lint free toothbrush is just as nice.

On kindness

Today I watched my daughter struggle to hold open a heavy door for an adult who went through it without a thank you and without even looking at my daughter.

I was hurt for her. I wanted to apologize for the rudeness of the world. Inwardly, I raged at anyone who would ignore a child and then go on to complain about the faults of "kids these days."

Before I could say anything, however, she turned to me with a big smile on her face and said "I'm a helper."

She didn't see insensitivity or unkindness. She saw her role as not to fix the world but to shine her light into it.

I have so much to learn from her. I pray that I can let kindness be such a strong motivation that other people's indifference or unkindness fades into the background. Let me be a helper.

Five Frugal Things

Hi, folks, I'm back again. Took a much needed break to reorganize and prioritize.

I've seen the five frugal things idea most recently on The Non-Consumer Advocate's blog (can't remember if the idea is original to her or not though). I thought the idea was a good one so here goes:

Five Frugal Things:

1. Overcame temptation to eat at Chik-fil-A and instead had leftover beef vegetable soup (sorry CFA cow mascots). Was rewarded when 15 month old closed her eyes, sighed and said "ommy" (yummy).

2. Replaced elastic in the legs of 10 well loved BumGenius diapers. They were basically useless to me with the old elastic and this will hopefully be the last time I need to replace it. Good thing because each one took me half an hour. Thanks for the false hope, five-minute tutorial on YouTube. Honestly, though, thank you five-minute tutorial on YouTube for showing me how to do this in only half an hour instead of the three it would have taken me to do it my way.

From stretched out to like new...

3. Held a garage sale. Was not so much rewarded in money (though $11.75 isn't nothing) as in fellowship. Thanks, A, for sitting with me in the cold and covering for my multiple trips inside to change diapers, feed kids, and change outfits (toddler+wet grass+dirt=mud). Actually toddler+anything+anything=mud come to think of it.

Some leftovers went to Goodwill, others in the back of my van for drop off at Half-Price Books, and some I sold on a virtual garage sale page. This box represents "as yet to be dispersed" items.

This is so much more manageable

4. Sweet talked my way into a free paint stirrer stick at the hardware store. No, actually, I offered to pay. We have an area on a doorframe where there once was a hinge. Rather than filling the entire thing with wood putty, my husband suggested gluing in a piece of wood and puttying around it. We had some paint sticks that were a smidge too big, and the ones at this store were just right. The guy behind the counter was not so much overcome with generosity because of my ingenuity but by sympathy for my fool's errand. In his immortal words: "I don't think that will work." I haven't done this yet. I'll let you know.

5. Made a batch of baking mix. I pinned a Pamela's copycat recipe awhile back but something always went wrong in the three times I've attempted it. I think by swapping buttermilk powder for regular powdered milk and using store bought rice flour instead of grinding my own I'm on the right track. It's still a tad bit salty for my taste so I'm going to cut the salt next time.

A bowl of (future) biscuity goodness
got the recipe here: http://community.stretcher.com/forums/t/1823.aspx 

P.S. Re: painting on leaves and using them to stencil your walls: um...fail. I'm glad I practiced on a sheet of paper first. The leaves will stay in my backyard for the time being. Kudos to anyone who attempts and recreates the concept though.

Miscellaneous

I haven't posted anything for the entire month of September. I felt a little burned out and like there was nothing much to say. Here are some random updates though:

1. I discovered this fantastic site that I encourage anyone gluten free to visit:

http://recreatinghappiness.com/

I don't post a lot of recipes myself, and that's because it's not really where my strength lies. I'm much better at following directions rather than making something totally new. There are so many great gluten free recipes out there and I'm not patient enough to attempt to repeat their efforts. Although I am tossing around this idea for a corn tortilla that doesn't fall apart.

2. I sold a bunch of stuff (including the kitchen table!) and donated a lot more to Goodwill. I feel like my life is peaceful when it's not surrounded by clutter. So I'm in a very happy place right now. :-)

3. The dining room re-do is complete (except for refinishing the floors) and the living room has begun. I am getting ready to attempt this on the walls:

Photo from This Old House magazine

I knew all those random sample paint cans would come in handy for something.

That's all for now. Off to take advantage of naptime.