Works for Me: Use a rubber band to save on hand soap

As I mentioned yesterday, the boys have started using up hand soap like crazy. I can't complain too much, since it means they're using the bathroom and washing their hands by themselves. But just because the soap was free after sale and coupon doesn't mean I want to waste it.

So to reduce the amount that comes out with each pump, I wrapped a small rubber band around the pump, which prevents the pump from going all the way down. (I think I picked this tip up from someone at A Full Cup, but I can't seem to find the post.) The boys are now getting about half the amount of soap that they used to – still too much, in my opinion, but a significant improvement!

Find more Works for Me Wednesday tips at We are THAT Family.

Adapting to life with my two boys

My oldest is four, so you'd think I'd be used to living with my kids by now. But I find that life with my boys changes so frequently that I'm constantly having to adapt.

To wit: They have become true consumers.

I don't mean they buy lots of stuff when we go shopping. I mean they use up a lot of stuff around the house!

They eat a lot more now, so a meal cooked for four really does serve only four. Six months ago, I could cook a half pound of pasta, feed the four of us for dinner, and still have leftovers for lunch for my husband and me. No longer. I discovered last week that I need to cook the whole one-pound package if I want leftovers for lunch.

The boys also use up a lot of handsoap in the bathroom. (I'll share my trick for cutting down on that later this week.) We go through toilet paper and tissue more quickly than before, too. (Not that I'm complaining about them being potty trained in the least. We can't be done with diapers soon enough!)

The thing is, I'm sure that as they get older, these types of changes will become more and more frequent. I'm trying to prepare myself mentally for the day when I have two ravenous adolescents threatening to devour everything in the kitchen.

In the meantime, I realize that I simply need to learn to accept these types of changes as a given, and not be surprised when I notice them. (Any tips on specific things to be prepared for?) I want to stay on top of these shifts in behavior and consumption so that I can keep us well stocked. I wouldn't want to run out of toilet paper or soap and have to pay full price on them!

Quick Product Reviews: Trader Joe's Edition

I love Trader Joe's. It became my primary grocery store during the 2003 grocery store strike, when I was reluctant to cross the picket lines at the mainstream markets. They don't have sales, and most of the items in the store are their own brand (though they do carry some name brands, like Laughing Cow, and they will take manufacturer's coupons on those). One of the things TJ's is known for is their exceptional prices on wine, but what I love most is their low every day price and wide availability of organic produce, and organic/hormone and antibiotic-free dairy and meat. They frequently have a better selection of organic produce than Whole Foods (although WF always has a better selection of meat). Here are some of the Trader Joe's products I buy regularly:

Lobster Ravioli - You'll find these in the refrigerated pasta section and they're our family's favorite of the prepared pastas there. I serve these with a quick pink sauce.

Beef hot dogs - These are high in fat but they're nitrate-free, so these are my first-choice franks. (I tried serving the nitrate-free turkey hot dogs but Alex, who loves the beef dogs, rejected them.)

Organic, sulfite-free Thompson raisins - Since foreign grapes are on the list of produce that retains a high amount of pesticides, I figure it's best to go with organic raisins. I particularly like these because they don't contain any sulfites (I have a hard time breathing when I consume some).

Party-size frozen meatballs - These little meatballs are about one inch in diameter, making them perfect for little hands. They're a little on the greasy side, but that gives them a lot of flavor and Tyler loves them with ketchup.

Parmesan reggiano cheese - TJ's sells these in vacuum packed wedges. This cheese is of such high quality that I'm not allowed to serve the pre-grated Parmesan cheese anymore. It really doesn't take long to grate the cheese on a microplane, and the fluffy snowflake-like bits are well worth it.

Handmade whole wheat tortillas - These are a little thicker than Mission brand tortillas, but I prefer them because they have fewer ingredients. They do have a fairly short expiration date, so poke around on the shelf to find the freshest packages. (They freeze pretty well.)

Organic cheese sandwich crackers - Surprisingly, these are pretty comparable, nutritionally, to Wheat Thins. The boys love them.

Cereal bars - The boys like strawberry, blueberry and apple. They eat about half of the fig bars before handing them back to me. I like these bars because Tyler doesn't react to them. (He gets a bit of a rash from Kashi cereal bars.)

Chocolate Decadence cereal - The name sounds absurd but it's pretty accurate. I love this cereal, but I didn't see it on the shelf this past weekend. Hopefully they haven't stopped selling it. (TJ's is known to stop production on some products rather quickly – I hope that's not what happened here!)

Ultimate Vanilla Wafers - One of these cookies serves as an occasional "dessert" for the boys, and they're very tasty. I particularly like that they don't contain hydrogenated oil (unlike Nilla brand cookies, last time I checked).

Note: If you don't have a Trader Joe's near you, you have my condolences. I would suggest contacting them and urging them to open a store in your neighborhood – your neighbors will thank you!

Kitchen essential: I love my microplane grater.

Previously: More quick product reviews

Calculating nutrition data for your own recipes

When I was on Weight Watchers, I could use their web site to calculate the nutrition facts for my own recipes. It was very handy because I'm constantly creating my own dishes. But I'm no longer doing Weight Watchers, so I needed a different source for nutrition data.

Enter SparkPeople (where you can keep a food journal, log your cardio and strength exercises, and join a community), and their sister site, Spark Recipes. Their free recipe calculator is easy to use, and instantly provides the nutrition data per serving. You can tweak the recipes to minimize calories, and have that all-important awareness of how much you're eating.

The Psychology of Having Multiple Savings Accounts

Back in 2007, I finally designated a savings account specifically for money to pay infrequent bills – things like life insurance, car insurance, homeowner's insurance, property taxes, disability insurance, etc. I calculated how much all of these expenses cost annually, divided by twelve, and began transferring that amount into the Infrequent Bills Account each month, minus whatever payments were due that month. About three times each year, I have to take money out of the IBA to pay all of the bills due that month. It all balances out, though, and knowing that the money for those bills is always available and accounted for makes my bill-paying very easy.

So it's no surprise that I've become a fan of having multiple savings accounts for specifically designated purposes. I've taken to keeping these accounts at ING Direct simply because it's so easy to open a "subaccount" there (once you've figured out how to do it – the first time, I had to hunt down directions). We now have a "car fund," which gets a monthly deposit roughly equivalent to a car payment. The money in this account will naturally be used to pay cash for our next new car (which, if all goes according to plan, will be in four or five years).

As I mentioned earlier this week, I recently created a "mortgage fund," which now gets a monthly deposit that's half of our debt snowball. Psychologically, I like keeping the money separate from our regular savings/emergency fund. It seems less available, somehow, although of course it's not. And keeping the money in a separate account makes it easier to stay on track with our original six-year payoff plan, if we decide that we can go ahead and use the money to prepay our mortgage.

If you're having trouble keeping track of the amounts you're saving for specific purposes, I highly recommend trying separate accounts. Just be sure not to open so many that you can't keep track of them!

Previously: My review of ING Direct

Works for me: Shave in multiple directions

I first read this tip years ago in a book of beauty tips, and I was reminded of it the other day in the shower. It was such a big revelation for me that I thought it was worth sharing: Shave your underarms in multiple directions. Apparently underarm hair grows in more than one direction, so the general guideline of shaving in just one direction doesn't quite get the job done.

Find more Works for Me Wednesday tips at We are THAT Family.

Re-thinking the Mortgage Payoff Plan

On a day-to-day basis, I tend to focus on the small picture: save a few dollars on milk and cereal, buy the boys' clothes a year ahead on clearance, pay insurance bills in full to avoid the installment plan "convenience" fee, etc.

But lately I've been thinking more about the big picture: our long term goals, what's likely to happen in the next five to ten to twenty years, and especially, how do we balance liquidity with paying off the mortgage?

While both my husband's and my jobs seem secure for the moment, we are definitely not immune to the economic crisis that our country – and particularly, our home state of California – is weathering right now. We could be hit by pay cuts or layoffs, a steep decline in the quality of our local public school, or even a medical crisis or something unpredictable.

Pay cuts or layoffs are unlikely but not impossible or even improbable. One of my best friends and her husband were both laid off earlier this year and just found jobs after months of searching. It was stressful, to say the least, but they survived as well as anyone could due in large part to their conservative spending habits and savings. We want to be in the same position, just in case.

Additionally, you may recall that I've spent much of the last two years researching public and private schools in an effort to determine where to send our oldest next year. I was pleased to discover that our local public school is at least as good as any private school that we could afford. But of course, whether the public school is able to maintain its high standards in the midst of this recession remains to be seen. Class sizes are increasing this coming year. The school board has approved a three-year plan to eliminate full-day kindergartens and all arts and music programs, cut salaries by five percent in 2011-2012, and require furlough days. Governor Schwarzenegger wants to "suspend" mandatory school funding. I'm cautiously optimistic that because our public school seems to have a committed administration and an active PTA, it will be able to adjust to these restrictions without a loss in quality. The PTA, if it is able to raise enough money, can provide funding for supplemental arts and music programs, for instance.

But, who knows what the situation will be in a year or two? It would be nice to have the option of sending the boys to private school should that become preferable.

It would also be nice to pay off the mortgage in six years, as we'd originally planned. But sometimes it's necessary to strike a balance.

For the time being, we are splitting our debt snowball and directing half to our mortgage and the other half into savings. I created yet another subaccount at ING to keep this money separate. My thinking is that we will re-evaluate every six months or so, and if things look good, we can make a large principal payment on the mortgage that will keep us on the path to full repayment in six years. On the other hand, if we feel like hoarding cash, we can do that too.

This plan worked well for us when it came to paying off my student loans – and in fact, we did that a few months earlier than I'd anticipated. So hopefully things will work out that well when it comes to the mortgage too.

Previously: How I'm paying off my student loans

Bacon & Spinach Strata

My friend C. gave me a couple of loaves of La Brea Bakery's Roasted Garlic Bread, and I wasn't quite sure what to do with so much of it. And then it came to me: a strata. I totally improvised this recipe, so the measurements aren't exact, and I wish I'd thought to add one cup of shredded cheese. I also think it could have used a little more flavor - if I'd had any fresh herbs, I would have added them but I made this at the end of the week when my fridge was rather bare.

Bacon & Spinach Strata
Serves 4 to 6

10 ounces La Brea Bakery Roasted Garlic Bread or other peasant-style bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
6 slices bacon, diced
12 ounces spinach, chopped
4 eggs
2 cups milk
salt & pepper to taste
nonstick cooking spray

1. Lightly spray an 8x8 baking dish with cooking spray. Add the bread to a large mixing bowl.

2. Heat a skillet over medium high heat and cook the bacon until browned, about 10 minutes. Remove the bacon and add to the bread, reserving 2 teaspoons of fat in the pan. (Discard remaining fat.) Return the pan to heat and add the spinach. Sauté the spinach until wilted, about 5 minutes. Add the spinach to the bread and bacon, and mix well.

2. In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, milk, salt and pepper (and anything else you might be using, like herbs and/or cheese). Pour the egg mixture over the bread mixture and stir. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking pan. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate for four hours to overnight. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes, or until the top is browned and the egg mixture is firm.

(Note: I'm okay with this as a summer time dish because the 8x8 baking pan fits into my toaster oven - that means it doesn't heat up my whole kitchen!)

Quick Product Reviews - Food Edition

Here are some food and food-related products we've tried recently:

Healthy Choice - Sweet Asian Potstickers - The potstickers were okay enough to eat, but the rest of this entree was inedible. I would only buy this if it were a moneymaker.

Healthy Choice - Mediterranean Pasta - I think this entree is poorly named, because I don't think cranberries and fontina and cinnamon when I think Mediterranean. And the combination here didn't work for me. I'd buy this if it were a moneymaker, but I wouldn't eat it.

Healthy Choice - Pumpkin Squash Ravioli - This one was the worst of all, because it was trying too hard to be savory and sweet at the same time. I'm not crazy about cinnamon, especially in savory dishes, and there was way too much in this. I tossed the whole thing after a couple of bites. I wouldn't eat this again.

Special K Crackers - These are a new product I got cheap thanks to a promotion at Target. They're more like Kashi 7 Grain Crackers than Wheat Thins and quite tasty. I like that there aren't any hydrogenated oils in them.

Rubbermaid Food Storage Containers- I've found that these containers really do extend the life of my produce, especially the pieces that are at the bottom, and especially fruit that tends to exude juice over time - things like watermelon, for example. It's still important to dry the produce well before putting it in the container, but I'd say the containers add a day or two to the life of my produce.

Previously: More quick product reviews

Chocolate Chip Buttermilk Pancakes

I'd been giving the boys store bought frozen waffles for breakfast on weekday mornings, but since I'm not a big fan of processed food, all of the additives weighed heavily on my mind. Unfortunately, my little one  won't eat plain or fruit pancakes, but I hit pay dirt when I added a little bit of chocolate to a recipe adapted from The 1997 Joy of Cooking.

Chocolate Chip Buttermilk Pancakes
Makes approximately 16 pancakes

1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 ounces dark chocolate, very finely chopped (tip: use a serrated knife)
butter or nonstick cooking spray, for cooking

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour through salt) and mix well. In a small mixing bowl, combine buttermilk, eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk until flour mixture is just moistened. Stir in chocolate.

2. Preheat a griddle or large nonstick pan over medium heat, and melt some butter on it (or lightly coat with cooking spray). Use a 1/4-cup measuring cup to pour batter onto the griddle. When there are air bubbles popping, carefully flip the pancakes. Let cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes or until the bottom is the desired color. Repeat with remaining batter, occasionally cleaning off the griddle or pan with a paper towel.

3. To freeze these pancakes, cook until lightly browned, and cool completely. Separate with wax paper or parchment paper and freeze. You can defrost these in the microwave (they'll probably take about 10 seconds or so), but I prefer to heat them in the toaster oven to get the edges crispy again.

Works for Me Wednesday - Summer Recipe Edition: Couscous Salad with Heirloom Tomatoes

This week's Works for Me Wednesday is the Summer Recipe Edition. I'm contributing a recipe I created a few years ago when my oldest was just a baby:

Summer Couscous Salad With Heirloom Tomatoes
Serves 6-8

1 1/2 cups whole wheat couscous
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons dried basil or 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
3 cups chopped heirloom tomatoes (or halved cherry or grape tomatoes)
1 15-oz. can of garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

1. In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken broth to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in the couscous. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
2. In a large bowl, combine the basil, parsley, olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice and balsamic vinegar, and stir with a whisk.
3. Add the couscous, tomatoes and garbanzo beans to the dressing and toss. Taste and add more salt and balsamic vinegar to taste.