Inexpensive Ideas for Romance

S.O. = Significant Other

Whether you're stuck in the house because of a blizzard, watching your pennies because of the economy, or just stuck for ideas on how to show you love someone, here's a few ideas to show you care:

• start your significant other's car in the morning so it will be warm when s/he goes out to drive to work
• write an "i care so much for you" on a sticky note and place it inside your s.o.'s lunchbox or briefcase
• wrap up a small gift or note and place it in your s.o.'s favorite box of cereal
• call a restaurant near where you s.o. lives and have them deliver a snack or lunch to your s.o. at work, better yet... take a picnic yourself! doesn't have to be intricate - cheese and crackers, a little olive salad, homemade bread, fresh fruit salad, etc.
• serve breakfast in bed with a flower and poem - could be just a bowl of cereal or a piece of toast plus a scrambled egg
• hold the chair for her as she sits down at the table
• decorate a christmas ornament especiall for her and give it to her for the holidays
• drip chocolate or dab whipped cream on your lover and lick it off
• surprise your s.o. with a kiss and hug before s/he can finish a sentence
• take the tv and computer out of the bedroom, and decorate to make your bedroom a boudoir!
• cook dinner for your s.o. before she gets home - fancy if you can, simple and sweet if you can
• turn on the stereo instead of the tv and listen to some smooth jazz
• prepare a bath for your s.o. - a few flower petals, some scented oil or bath salts, soft music, light candles - no kids.
• talking about kids - take them out for a day so your s.o. can take a nap, take a bath, read a magazine!
• get a small bottle, place in a love letter, and float it in the bath of your s.o.
• call your s.o. at work and say - hello beautiful - can i take you to your favorite place tonight?
• write an i.o.u. for a million kisses and place it in a lunchbox or briefcase
• write in a pretty journal quotes and thoughts about love. give it, wrapped in a pretty bow, for no special occasion
• write "i love you" in a stick of butter or with noodles
• stay up late, talking about your feelings - yes, your feelings
• have matching pillowcases monogramed with your names and a heart
• buy a small piece of jewelry or inexpensive earrings and place them in her jewelry box then patiently wait for her to notice.
• go windowshopping and make mental notes of what s/he likes then get something for the next "just because" day
• recreate your first date
• bake a brownie in the shape of a heart
• assuming there's no kids around, leave a trail of clothes from the front door to the bed, lite candles in the bedroom
• dress your little dog in a cupid's outfit
• write a sticky note with a love poem and place it on her bathroom mirror where she can't miss it. don't write on the mirror - who will clean it up?
• toss a coin in a fountain together and make a wish
• hide a note in a pants pocket
• never say "i told you so" or bring up the same old arguments again and again
• make a point to go to bed early, and spend 30 minutes or so just talking , telling secrets, fears, hopes, or something you've never told anyone from your childhood.
• send a love e-mail
• pick up a favorite potted plant instead of roses - then when it's farm, plan tit in the garden. try something like a blueberry or raspberry bush, or squash or tomato seedling
• take a family stroll after dinner, with you two holding hands or arm-in-arm
• make love on a blanket in your garden
• turn to your s.o. and say "i'm so thankful you are in my life"
• invite your s.o.'s mom over for a special dinner to say thank you for bring my s.o. into my life
• warm your s.o.'s bath towel in the dryer
• save the little papers from hershey kisses and give them to be redeemed for kisses - this can go back and forth until they disintegrate!
• change a diaper without being asked
• prepare a list and surprise your s.o. by grabing some groceries on the way home from work - be sure to get the brands your s.o. buys
• make a big pot of your s.o.'s favorite tea
• prepare your s.o.'s favorite comfort food the next time he/she is feeling down
• hold hands in front of the TV instead of holding on to a beer
• cut a child's sandwich into a heart shape
• place heart stickers on a banana and place it into a lunch box or briefcase
• take out the trash without being asked
• clean the kitchen counter without being asked
• do a load of laundry without being asked ... you get the idea!
• here's the last suggestion, and one we're doing as a couple - we're going to go to the card section at Wal-Mart, choose valentine's cards (probably musical ones) and say to each other - here's your card! We'll look, we'll play them, we'll laugh, we'll hug and kiss, then we'll put them back.... cheap, yes, we know, but we love the musical cards and just can't afford them this year.

The truth is, romance is doesn't have to be expensive or a huge gesture. Just show you care. Show you think about the other person often.

Remember, you don't need a special day like Valentine's Day to show you love or care for someone, or to inject a little romance in your life.

Enjoy today!

Inventory Check - Toilet Paper

I can't imagine running out of toilet paper, but at some point, it may happen. What then?

First, we're big-time stocking up on toilet paper. We get some almost every time we shop.

Second, we've thought about what to do instead of toilet paper. We could use washable rags. Or install a bidet (but what happens when there's no running water?). Or make our own paper but experimentation shows it's hard to make a "soft enough" paper.

What about you?

QUESTION: Gardening for Survival - What would you REQUIRE?

If you could take only five seeds or plants on a deserted island, what would you take? What could you absolutely not live without?

Leave your answer as a comment to this post.

Some suggestions:
artichoke
asparagus
beans
beets
berries
broccoli
cabbage
carrots
cauliflower
celery
corn
cotton
cucumbers
eggplant
garlic
grains
greens
melons
okra
onions
peanuts
peppers (bell and hot)
potato (baking and sweet)
radishes
rhubarb
soybeans
spinach
squash, summer
squash, winter (incl pumpkins, butternut, etc.)
sunflowers
tomatoes (several varieties)
= = = =
trees like almonds, walnuts, pecans, filberts, apples, pears, apricots, cherries, pinion pine, etc.
= = = =
herbs like soapwort, basil, chives, tarragon, oregano, borage, sage, motherwort, cilantro, parsley, thyme, dill, echinacea, etc.
= = = =
bushes like elderberries, bayberry (wax), raspberries, blackberries, holly, etc.


We've been wanting to ask this question for a while - for people who have limited gardening space, this would be a great post to read.

Personally, I'd have (1) corn (2) almond tree (3) beans (4) squash like zucchini and (5) apple tree

Money-Saving Menu #2: tuna, spaghetti

We've put together another money saving menu! It comes just under $5.00 per person per day:

Breakfast:

.46 = 6 ounce yoplait yogurt

.46 = 1/2 cup cinnamon almond granola

---

.92 plus tea or water to drink

Lunch:

.43 = 1/2 can fruit cocktail

.30 = 1/2 can water-packed chunk tuna

.10 = mayo and pickle relish

.15 = 2 slices bread from day-old rack

---

.98 plus tea or water to drink

Dinner:

.35 = 1/3 large can Hunts spaghetti sauce at 1.05/can

.15 = pureed vegetables to add to spaghetti sauce (zucchini, eggplant, etc.)

.46 = 1/2 cup dry elbow macaroni (but cook it!)

1.45 = 1/2 dry cooked italian meatballs (from provident pantry)

----

2.41

Snack:

.25 = 1 large stick celery

.15 = 1 tablespoon peanut butter on celery

---

.40

Total for day: $4.71

Use the balance to put into a savings jar or eat more vegetables today. I don't usually calculate tea bags in cost analysis because it's so nominal.

Stock Up Costs Vs. Living Costs in This Economy

A shy reader e-mailed this question: "Thanks for breaking down the list to manageable pieces but with this economy I still can't afford to get much. What do I do? J. "

Our answer...

Dear J and other interested readers...
Thanks for writing! It's good to know that we're helping people. We are a family of 3 on a very limited budget - only one of us has a job and the other is partially disabled. We have minimum bills: mortgage, car insurance, utilities, phone, student loans. The bills are paid first. (We don't have cable or other fancy entertainment things.) What is left over goes first to essentials like gas, car maintenance, health care and prescriptions, food, toiletries, etc. Family, in the here and now, comes FIRST.

There are months when we don't have even a penny left over. When we do... we attack the stock-up list, stopping first at the dollar store, yard sales and the on-line recycle yahoo group. When we have a windfall of more than $50 or so, we stock up on dried foods from Emergency Essentials or Sam's Club. Then, even though we disagree with Wal-Mart's employee policies, we shop there for the rest because they do have the lowest prices. Usually. Gotta shop around and compare prices. And garden.

We are working to cut out our eating out, so that will free up additional funds for us. But for now, we can get a couple of rolls of aluminum foil and a box of baby wipes this week, plus one superglue, and about 9 cans of no-sugar-added fruit (pears, fruit cocktail and pineapple). Every little bit will help.

And we're eating what we store. It definitely helps to prepare for eating our basic ingredients.

Here's a list of suggestions:

• When people ask what you want for birthdays or Christmas, tell them a gift card for your favorite grocery store, or to an online supplier of dried foods.
• Lay off the purchased coffee drinks (using your stored coffee instead), and after a month, you'll have a nice little chunk of change to do some shopping.
• When the kids present their holiday or birthday gift wish list to you, explain to them that money is tight. Look at your list of supplies to store and ask them to pick one to get for the family in lieu of one present.
• Check out the dented-can section of the grocery. You still have to be careful but if a can is dented and not bulging it will be fine. Eat that one pretty quickly and put one of the un-dented in your storage. In that section, they'll also have other discounted products like smashed boxes of tea, or off-season candles (Halloween in December). Check out this section every time you go to the store. King Soopers in the Denver area also has almost-expired bakery items in their section, and they put special orange stickers on dairy and meat products that are about to expire (but they leave them in the dairy and meat section, respectively); great way to provide these products at more affordable prices.
• Especially check the day after holidays. Valentine's Day is in 2 days, Saturday. Early on Sunday, check out the dollar and grocery stores for their 50% marked down goodies. Get candy that will last a long time, like hard candy. M&M's last a while too.
• Don't spend money on special storage buckets. Every bakery that you pass, go in and ask what they do with the empty icing buckets. When you find a place that will give them to you for free, go in every chance you get and pick some up. Thoroughly clean, dry, pack (adding a couple of bay leaves for any bugs already in there - they hate that scent), label for contents, and seal. If you don't store your food properly (like flour and beans), you are inviting mice, roaches and other critters to invade your stores. Don't waste your money by having to throw away good food.
• Jackie Clay at Backwoods Home Magazines suggests another good way to store items is in metal trash cans with lids.
• Eat what you store. Another way to say it is: "rotate your stock". The most recent cans of soup or bags of flour (etc.) get labeled with purchase date and go to the end of the line. Use your oldest. And if you're storing corn meal and have never cooked with it, now's the time to do so. If you store corn meal and later on have no way to get anything else, you better like foods made with corn meal!

Hope this answers the question. Please ask if you have more! Thanks.

Recipe: Homemade Soda Pop

We love soda pop but hate spending the money, and hate that the store-bought sodas are so full of sugar. We got to thinking ... what if we could control the ingredients? We did a little research and found these recipes. Can't wait to try them!

Root Beer Soda Pop:

Our VHTS's favorite soda!

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water

2 cups sugar (will experiment to see if we can substitute honey)

1 quart hot water

4 teaspoons root beer extract

Directions:

Dissolve yeast in the 1/2 cup warm water. In a separate container, dissolve the sugar in the 1 quart hot water. Combine both mixtures in a gallon jar with the root beer extract. Fill the jar the rest of the way with warm water. Gently stir until all is mixed together very well. Cover. Set in warm sun for about 4-6 hours. Refrigerate. Serve the next day. NOTE: Experiment with the amount of yeast - too much and it'll taste too carbonated and "nasty". Try 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of yeast.

Ginger Ale Soda Pop:

Great for stomach problems.

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups water

4 inch long piece of ginger root (peel and chop)

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

3 teaspoon lemon extract

1/2 teaspoon stevia (sweetener) powder

Directions:

Boil the ginger in the 3 1/2 cups water for 10 minutes. Strain. Pour the ginger juice/syrup into a large jar. Add the extracts and stevia. Mix well. Cool then store in refrigerator as a ginger-soda-pop syrup. When ready to prepare as a drink, pour 1/8 to 1/4 cup of the ginger syrup into a tall glass, and add 1 cup (or a little more) of sparkling water. Add ice and serve.

How to Make Sparkling Water or Seltzer:

There are a lot of gadgets on the market to make your own soda pop or seltzer or sparkling or carbonated water. You could get those and use to make your special drinks.

You need two items:

-a seltzer bottle (aka soda syphon)

-chargers (small cannisters of pressurized CO2)

Don't buy the cheap plastic kinds as they'll break easily. The seltzer bottle is like a thermos bottle with a sprayer built into the top. The chargers do the actual carbonation. The charger fits into the spray head. Fill with regular water, snap-on or screw-in the charger. Press the plunger. Out comes freshly carbonated sparkling water. It's not as fizzy as what we could buy in the store, but it'll do!

We've been trying to figure out how to make carbonated or seltzer water without using a gadget, but so far no luck. Anyone know?

Substitution for Cooking Oil, Sprays or Butter

In researching self-sufficiency, we came across another question: If we were to run out of stored cooking oil (olive, canola, corn, etc.), and cooking/baking sprays, what would we use in its place? (Substitute / Replace)

Corn? We've researched making corn oil - it takes 56 lbs (1 bushel) to make about 1.2 lbs of corn oil. Wow, that's a lot of corn. Plus it's an involved procedure with soaking and more. Would that be the best way to use the corn?

Almond? To make almond oil, you would squeeze or press the oil/water from the raw almonds, leaving behind a tasteless powder (which could probably used as flour). Our research can't find more details, but it bears looking into.

Olive? We'd probably have to grow a lot of miniature olive trees in a tall greenhouse to make enough olive oil to be worth it.

Cotton? Soybean? Sunflower?

How about we just make sure we have plenty of butter!?!

Meanwhile, if anyone has the information on the best and most efficient way to make cooking oil from something easily grown, please let us know so that we can do further research, and pass along the information. Thanks.