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Wednesday, April 1, 2015

5 Steps to a Greener Homeschool #BringingInnovation #ad #cbias

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #BringingInnovation #CollectiveBias
Batteries. The need for batteries is often the bane of my existence. We are a super techie family to begin with---but what is it with boys and batteries? It doesn't matter how many times I buy and hide new batteries, those boys can sniff them out like police dogs. If I ever need a battery, the first place I look is in the video game remotes. Then the boys' flashlights. Then their handheld games. My mom used to buy my husband a pack of batteries every Christmas because she knew he'd need them for the boys' new stuff. Now she just buys the boys each a pack on their birthdays. Guys are so hard to buy for---but batteries? Perfect gift every time.

You can imagine how thrilled I was to find Energizer's new EcoAdvanced recycled batteries at Walmart. I'll admit, there's a bit of guilt at how much our family throws away. We try to recycle, when possible, but it's not exactly safe to DIY-upcycle an old battery, you know? This is the first battery on the market to use recycled batteries and materials and is Energizer's longest lasting alkaline battery ever. They're good for up to 12 years in storage and provide guilt-free energy by taking something old and making it new. These will be excellent for our home and our homeschool. Here are some other tips on making a homeschool a little more environmentally-friendly.

Utilize Scratch Paper
We've had this old candy bar box as our scratch paper box for years. I fill it with paper that didn't print right, junk mail with blank backs, old grocery lists---anything that has some coloring space left on it. Before I started doing this, my kids would always ask for more and more paper to color on. Now they have a place they can find lots of scratch paper for doodling. Just be careful what you put in there---there has been more than one occasion where important bank documents got sent out into the world as pictures for pen pals!

Use the Library
Most homeschoolers know about the many resources their local libraries offer. From books to movies to reference manuals, we can plan an entire curriculum based on free library materials. This practice makes for a great green homeschool---shared materials are less natural resources used. However, there are other great benefits to the library. We love to hang out there in the dead of summer when it's so hot that air conditioning is a must. We can turn ours off and go enjoy theirs! In addition, many libraries offer classes on gardening, financial planning, and more to help you manage your green homeschool.

Turn it off
As a large family, we already use more than the average amount of water and electricity in a day. Compounded by the fact that we homeschool and are here using it all day, every day, this makes for some big utility bills! It's important to get in the habit of turning off lights, tv, and other plugged in appliances before leaving the room. Many homes, like ours, have light switches that are wired in to plug-ins. We arrange our rooms in such a way that the most-used lamps plug in to those outlets. That way we can turn off all the lights with one switch. In addition, save water by rinsing dishes in a pan of water, turning off the water while you brush, and showing the kids an imaginary line along the bathtub so they don't fill it too full.

Save your garbage
Several months ago, Selah taught us a great way to recycle toilet paper rolls by making bird feeders for the trees in our yard. This family goes through a lot of toilet paper---so this was something we were able to do easily to bless the wildlife in our yard. She spread peanut butter on each tube and then rolled it in bird seed. Some tubes we just slid over a thin, low branch. Others, we hung with twine. The birds and squirrels loved them!

Buy Recycled
Energizer's new EcoAdvanced recycled batteries are one of thousands of products that allow us to be smarter with our necessary "new" purchases. Available in AA and AAA, these batteries take what was destined for a landfill and turn it into something wonderfully new. Guess all those "dead batteries" aren't so dead anymore, eh?

Feeling inspired about these green homeschool ideas? Check out this GuiltFreeEnergy giveaway to win $1,000 in gift cards.



What are some ways you make your homeschool a greener place to learn?

Teaching Our Kids Smart Financial Planning #IAmProtective #ad #cbias

 This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #IAmProtective #CollectiveBias
Like many young couples, Jamie and I started out our marriage in a rough place financially. Neither one of us understood the concept of saving, waiting, or budgeting. Our bad decisions made for some really hard times and we found ourselves dependent on family, friends, and government aid to get ourselves out of one trouble after another. 

Thankfully, we learned our lessons about poor money management young, and have worked our way up to a place of self-sufficiency and living within our means. It's really important to Jamie and I to teach our kids smart financial planning so they can have a future of self-sufficiency. Whether they're the working ones bringing in the money, or the homemakers spending it, we want our children to understand the responsibilities they'll face as adults and how they'll contribute to the financial health of their families.

With such a large family, we've gotten all kinds of questions about how we save for the kids' future cars, college, weddings, and more. Truth is, we don't. We feel these are adult responsibilities that our children will need to take care of on their own. That doesn't mean we just leave them in the cold when it comes to planning for these things, though. There are several ways we make sure the kids understand responsible financial planning.

Our oldest son, Michael, is the one who has expressed the most interest in his future plans, so far. Michael has already shown concern about finding the "right" job---the one that will help him support a stay-at-home wife and the large family he's hoping for. We've discussed with him the options of taking online college courses from home so he's also able to work full-time and beginning to save his money now so he'll be able to purchase a reliable vehicle when it's time. We've also helped him put priorities in order---such as making sure he's got a stable job, reliable vehicle, and a little money for homemaking basics before making plans for a marriage.

One thing we've not discussed with our older kids yet is the need for life insurance. I was recently introduced to an online learning library with lots of information on taking out life insurance. I can remember, as a new wife, not even wanting Jamie to take out life insurance because the thought of losing one of us was too scary for me. Now that I'm a little older and wiser, I understand how life insurance can help ease the burden of an already devastating time of loss, and I feel comforted in knowing our family won't have a difficult financial struggle should our children lose one of their parents too soon. It's only recently occurred to me that finding a good life insurance plan is also something we need to add to Michael's list of financial priorities. I want him to have the same peace of mind that Jamie and I have.

Monday, March 23, 2015

Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream Cupcakes #snacktalk #ad #cbias

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #snacktalk #CollectiveBias
It's that time of year when everyone is celebrating the big basketball event and looking for a fun snack to take to a game day party. These Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream Cupcakes, made with REESE'S Peanut Butter Cups and REESE'S Pieces are a fun and unique treat to serve friends---party day or not! When you're pressed for time, here's a simple way of making game time extra special. Since they're done in stages, you can do a little at a time and finish up just before time to serve.

A couple weeks ago, a few of the kids and I shopped Walmart for some REESE'S candy for the recipe. They thought it was pretty awesome that mom was doing a recipe that needed two kinds of candy---but were a little put out with me that I wouldn't tell them what it was. 

These ice cream cupcakes really have no cake at all---just ice cream, candy, and whipped topping. Your guests will be surprised by the peanut butter cup at the bottom---just like my kids were when I served them after dinner tonight!

The ingredient list includes a container of chocolate ice cream, whipped topping, Hershey's chocolate syrup, REESE'S Peanut Butter Cups, and REESE'S Pieces.

Start off by placing one peanut butter cup inside each of 12 cupcake liners inside a muffin tin. It's best to use a foil liner with a parchment insert so nothing leaks through when you add the softened ice cream. Tip: if you'll be serving these to young kids, use a butter knife to cut the peanut butter cups into a few pieces inside the liners. It will make it easier for them to eat the freezer-hardened candy.

Next place a scoop of softened ice cream inside each liner and spread it around with the back of a spoon. Your ice cream should be soft enough that some can run down in between the peanut butter cup and the liner. Don't worry about making it pretty...you'll do pretty later. Place the tin in the freezer and let it harden for at least an hour.

After the ice cream has hardened at least an hour, pipe the whipped topping onto the tops of the cupcakes and freeze again for at least an hour.

Once you are ready to serve, sprinkle the tops with chopped REESE'S Pieces and drizzle on some Hershey's syrup. Serve these to be eaten with a spoon, straight from the liner. Delicious!

Look at these handsome dudes! I went in their room this afternoon to see if they wanted to help me with photos and they were all dressed up. Apparently, they wanted to surprise me by dressing nicely for dinner. So sweet! I felt badly that I ruined their surprise---but not badly enough to give them their cupcakes early. They only got to stand here and model this one for a minute before it went back into the freezer for dessert time!

Do you have a great idea for a game day snack? Check out the REESE'S Snack Talk Challenge and enter to win a chance to be nationally recognized on CBS and Walmart.com. Enter to win at reesessnacktalk.com and visit your local Walmart to find a display with all the REESE'S products you'll need to make your excellent basketball game day recipe. Be sure to share your recipe on Twitter and Instagram using hashtags #SnackTalk and #ChallengeEntry.

Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream Cupcakes

12 REESE'S Peanut Butter Cups, unwrapped
4-5 cups chocolate ice cream, softened
12 oz. whipped topping
1 cup REESE'S Pieces, chopped
1 cup Hershey's Chocolate Syrup

Place one peanut butter cup in each of 12 parchment-lined foil cupcake liners and set inside a muffin tin. Place one scoop of chocolate ice cream into each liner and smooth down with the back of a spoon. Freeze at least one hour. Remove from freezer and pipe whipped topping on top of each cupcake. Freeze at least one more hour. Remove from freezer and sprinkle with chopped REESE'S Pieces. Drizzle with chocolate syrup and serve with a spoon.

Don't forget to enter your great REESE'S recipes into the REESE'S Snack Talk Challenge and, if you like my recipe, please pin it to share with your friends!
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