Works for Me Wednesday

They seem like such a normal, simple thing to me. Some even taste better the second time around. But apparently not everyone grew up with them. When we were first married, Diva Husband really didn't want anything to do with them.

Fortunately, he came to his senses when he realized that I have a problem "cooking for two".

Yes, my friends, I'm talking about LEFTOVERS.

Those delicious morsels that are, well, left over after the meal's done. The ones that make great lunches the next day, or if you're really lucky, dinner later in the week.

Now that we have human garbage disposals 2 boys and one on the way, I often cook so I have intentional leftovers. It's just as easy to cook twice as many chicken breasts as I need for a meal, then use the leftovers for chicken tacos the next night.

Of course that's assuming my oldest garbage disposal The Tweenager doesn't get hungry after dinner.

Intentional leftovers. It's what Works for Me!

For more WFMW posts, go see Kristen at We Are THAT Family.

Works for Me Wednesday: Angel Food Ministries

Our regular WFMW host is on her way to Kenya with Compassion, Int'l. Bloggers. This week, visit Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer for more WFMW posts!

In this economy it seems like everyone is trying to be a bit more responsible with their money. Budgets are cool. Couponing is the latest rage.

Frugal is the new black!

I suspect, that if our family and many of our friends are any indication, one of the largest parts of most household budgets is groceries. Fortunately, stores like Aldi are becoming more widespread, and help reign in the grocery budget without sacrificing quality.

Another option is a program called Angel Food Ministries. From their website:

Angel Food Ministries is a non-profit, non-denominational organization dedicated to providing food relief and financial support to communities throughout the United States. The program began in 1994 with 34 families in Monroe, Georgia (between Atlanta and Athens), and has grown to serve hundreds of thousands of families every month across 44 states.

For $30, you get a box of food designed to assist in feeding a family of four for a week. For example, the March 2010 Signature Box looks like this:




The items in the monthly box vary, but the food is always of high quality, no seconds or dented cans. In addition to the "Signature Box", a variety of special boxes are available. These packages range in price from $20-$35. You can find the full March menu offerings on their site.

We've been doing Angel Food for the past several months, using it in conjunction with our local Aldi and Walmart. We've seen significant savings in our monthly grocery bill, and my family actually looks forward to "Angel Food meals".

There is no income requirement to participate, and AFM accepts food stamps (LINK cards in Illinois) in addition to the traditional methods of payment. You can order online in most locations.

Angel Food Ministries has been a huge help to our family budget, and that really Works for Me!

Works for Me Wednesdays

I don't usually participate in WFMW, but this was such a deal, how could I not?

I listen to my iTunes at work. I love it. It keeps me sane. I would love to be able to listen to streaming radio or Pandora, but our firewalls don't love those at all.

I don't have as much music on my iTunes as those who know me IRL would think. iTunes recently raised most of their song prices to $1.29, which can add up pretty quickly. A $10 iTunes gift card that used buy 10 songs now only buys 7.

And I downloaded all of my CD's already.

So when free music is available, it's like manna to my frugal soul.

Right now, you can go to Amazon and download LOTS of free tunes. Granted some of them are...well...let's just say that there's a reason some of them are free. But there are loads of good tunes if you have 20 minutes or so to sort through the nearly 1500 available.

Did I mention they're free?

And that REALLY works for me!

For more Works for Me Wednesday posts, go visit "We Are THAT Family".