Happy Birthday to my sweet little peanut :)

My baby girl is officially a teenager today. The last 13 years have gone by so quickly....it's seems like just yesterday we were bringing our little pink peanut home from the hospital. I am very fortunate that my daughter and I have a terrific relationship (at least up to this point). Most of her friends, as she tells me, greatly dislike their mothers and think their moms are stupid. My daughter tells me at least 20 times a day that she loves me and that I'm her best friend :) I know what they say, you shouldn't be best friends with your children...but we've always treated them like equals and have valued and respected their opinions and it has made us a very close family.

So I'm thanking God today for blessing us with this beautiful young lady! Thrifty Gal

P.S. The thrifty side of me is thankful too because I called the local radio station to have her birthday announced on air and she won a Dairy Queen ice cream cake! Yippee! :)

Thrifty birthday celebration? NOT!!!! :)

Well, all my plans to try to curb my spending after spring break have gone awry. As I'm typing this, I'm watching my almost 13-year-old daughter and 2 of her friends swim in a hotel pool. In a hotel in the town where I live. And I'm paying to sleep at the hotel that's in the town I have a home in. Not very thrifty, huh? But there isn't much to do for a 13-year-old's party in our small town. And she only turns 13 once, right?

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough Recipe/Waffle Iron Help

I've been looking a long time for an easy, whole wheat pizza dough recipe and I just found one in the latest issue of "Taste of Home" magazine. I thought I'd share it!

Perfect Pizza Crust
1 Tbsp. active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups bread flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
Cornmeal
Pizza Toppings of your choice

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the sugar, salt, 1 cup bread flour and the whole wheat flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining bread flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky).

Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down; roll in a 15-in. circle. Grease a 14-in. pizza pan and sprinkle with cornmeal. Transfer dough to prepared pan; build up edges slightly.

Add toppings of your choice. Bake at 425 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until crust is golden brown and toppings are lightly browned and heated through. Yield: 8 servings

I'll update this post with my review once I get the chance to make it! :)

Also, I wondered if anyone out there could recommend a good waffle iron. My son eats premade, pop in the toaster chocolate chip waffles every morning and I would love to start making them from scratch, freezing them and pulling one out every morning. I've been researching waffle irons but just can't decide on what kind would work best. Any help would be appreciated :)

Enjoy your day and God bless ~ Thrifty Gal

Future Shopping Destination: Walgreens

From a public relations stand-point (I have a PR degree from UNI '89), this was a brilliant move by Walgreens:

Demonstrating their commitment to families during tough economic times, Walgreens and Take Care Health Systems today announced the launch of the Take Care Clinic Take Care Recovery Plan – an offer of free health care services at Take Care Clinics throughout the remainder of 2009 to all current and future Take Care Clinic patients, and their families, that suffer a job loss on or after March 31, 2009 and have no health insurance benefits.
“Walgreens and Take Care Health Systems will not stand idly by as individuals are forced by the hardships of the economy to choose among basic necessities such as health care, housing and food. Quality, accessible and affordable care should be the right of every individual,” said Walgreens President and CEO Gregory D. Wasson. “For that reason, we are announcing the offer of the Take Care Recovery Plan, so that families finding themselves without employment and health insurance benefits aren’t forced to make this tough decision.”

I can't tell you how much this makes my heart smile :) My nearest Walgreens is about 40 miles away but I can guarantee you that I will be making that trip at least once a month to give such a conscientious company my business. I encourage those who have a Walgreens near them to do the same. (You can read the entire article here)

Thanking God for my blessings including good health care insurance ~ Thrifty Gal

I'm a winner! :)

I have to tell myself that every once in a while, just to make myself feel better.... :) But today, it's TRUE! I was one of 10 winners in the http://www.momadvice.com/ Twilight DVD giveaway! My teenage daughter will be so happy when she gets this in her Easter basket! BTW, MomAdvice is a great place to read all kinds of articles on frugal living, saving money, inexpensive recipes and organizational tips. And who doesn't need help with those things?!!!

Have a WINNING day and God bless ~ Thrifty Gal

Hello...again...

Wow. It's been awhile. I haven't been posting on this blog because of it's name...."Thrifty Third Avenue Gal". Guess what? I haven't been thrifty lately :( During my daughter's illness (she's fine now, thank the Lord), I spent unnecessarily on things to cheer her up (which it did but I didn't HAVE to spend to make her happy). Then we went on a little Spring Break trip (nothing extravagant just a couple nights in a hotel not far from home) including lots of eating out and some shopping. This week, I've been getting back into our 'normal' routine but haven't been able to get out of the eating out mode that we got into last week. So now, it's time to rein in the spending. We do have a couple of very expensive months coming up. My daughter's dance pictures and recital. Her participation in track (including 2 kinds of shoes & uniform). Gas to get to track meets and eating while we're there. Her 13th birthday. Easter. A trip (just me & my sis) out to Dresden, Ohio (a birthday present from said sis but I will need spending money). Travel to high school track meets (husband is a coach). Son's 15th birthday. Property taxes due. Graduations (we get invited to a lot because my husband is a high school teacher). The list goes on and on. How am I going to get through this and not completely overspend? Any help would be appreciated? If I can get all this under control, then maybe I can start writing under this blog title again...honestly :)

Thanks in advance for your help and God bless ~ "Thrifty" Gal

Idol Update

I actually don't have an AI update this week...while the show was on last night, I was on the phone with Ask-A-Nurse trying to decide what to do about my daughter who had a 103.4 degree temperature. Sometimes things are more important than Idol :)

BTW, I took my daughter to the doctor and she has the B strain of Influenza. She'll be in bed for a week or more, my poor little peanut :(