Kathy Zengolewicz

For instance, Animal shelters very often need used blankets, towels and sheets. They use these items to create a soft sleeping surface or for cleaning up messes and for bathing the strays they help.

Women’s shelters can always use women’s and children’s attire, toys, books, etc. If you have it to spare, why not buy some disposable diapers and donate them, too.

I hate to throw away books or magazines. I take the older magazines and give them to the receptionist is my doctor’s office. They appreciate the reading material for their patients.  When I finish reading a few books I have my husband take them into his work and give them to whoever wants them.

Half way houses can always use men’s attire, especially winter coats in the cold weather.  Any power tools that you no longer use can be given to groups like Habitat for Humanity.

If you come across some old food containers you can use them for organizing your sewing materials like buttons, pins, needles and cloth scraps.

These are just a couple of ideas. I’m sure you can find many more uses for old household items that you are no longer using. Donating these items help others and you get organized and rid of clutter at the same time, so it’s a win win situation.

Take care. I’ll talk to you soon!

Post from: Keeping the Castle

Life is hectic and messy. Keeping your house clean and nice is the only sensible thing to do. Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Home is two parts common sense and one part inspiration. Read it and you will learn how to clean like the dickens.

Thelma Meyer raised nine children in Iowa. As you can imagine, she has plenty of experience cleaning house. Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Home has shortcuts and tips for cleaning the kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and living room and shows your how to do it right the first time. She gives unexpected advice such as:

–Wash windows on a cloudy day to avoid the nasty streaking that happens when the sun’s out and glass dries too fast.
–Always clean out the fridge before grocery shopping. Serve the kids “Musko” (“must go”) for dinner, using the items that were fast approaching expiration.
–Always work hard.
–Don’t throw away anything (not even the water leftover from those potatoes you just boiled)!

Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Home is fully illustrated and packed with every conceivable tip, which will help you to get your work done during the week to free up your weekends.  Mrs. Meyer’s can help the new housewife or person starting out on their own, as well as the experienced housekeeper. There are tips for everyone.

Right now, if you’ll sign up for Mrs. Meyer’s emails, you’ll get $5 off any order of $25 or more.

***************

I have the privilege of giving away FIVE copies of Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Home.

There are many ways to enter this contest:

You can earn an entry for each item you complete, but you must leave a separate comment for each one.  It just makes it easier to tally and pick a random winner.

1) Leave a comment telling me why you’d like to win one of these books.

2) Give this post a thumbs up at Stumble Upon and leave your Stumble name.

3) Tweet this post and leave your Twitter name or status url. To retrieve your Twitter status url, simply click on the timestamp of your tweet. It will say something like, “5 minutes ago from the web”. You can earn 3 twitter entries each day for each time you tweet this giveaway. You must leave a comment for each tweet.

4) Follow @thriftymommy on Twitter. Leave a comment with your Twitter name.

5) Blog about this giveaway and leave a direct link to your post.

6) Mention this giveaway on any forums or message boards and leave me a link.

7) Add Keeping the Castle to your blogroll.

This contest ends Wednesday, March 18, 2009 and is available to U.S. or Canadian residents (no PO boxes please). The winner will be contacted by email and will have 72 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen. You will not be put on a mailing list, but you must include your email address in the second box under your name (not in the comment box).

Good luck everyone and thanks to Hachette Books for donating this great prize.

Post from: Keeping the Castle

In Extreme Entertaining Made Simple, Eduardo shares his philosophy of using the five senses to create and celebrate a memorable occasion. The taste, sound, feel, smell and look of an event are given equal attention according to its chosen theme. A sixth sense, intuition, is also given its due in the book.

The parties in our large extended family usually happens somewhere other than in my home. But I’m eager to learn how to put together a well-planned gathering, for the next time that the party does happen in my house. Eduardo’s new book offers ideas that I’ve never considered before, and which I’m excited to try out. His approach of catering to the senses is new to me, yet it makes a lot of sense.

Eduardo starts by discussing the five six senses and how they should be considered in design and entertaining. The rest of the book is taken up by sections focused on six events:

• classic dinner party
• princess party
• spa party
• white party
• margarita party
• beach party

For each party, Eduardo goes through all the steps to put it together. His narratives are accompanied by beautiful colored photos, specific instructions (eg., napkin folding), gift and centerpiece suggestions, and easy recipes. There is also a CD included, with music that’s appropriate for the parties above. As I was reading through the book, I felt that I was being walked through the entire planning process for each party.

I did get the sense that the parties that Eduardo designed for this book are extreme, just as the title says. They’re not your everyday dinner parties (the spa party had a sofa topped with real grass!). But these ideas are not just for expensive gatherings. Eduardo also gives alternatives to keep costs down and allow for variations to the themes. The key is to lift inspirations, scale them down (or up!) as needed, and involve all the senses in the celebration.

Extreme Entertaining Made Simple is an exciting, do-it-yourself resource for party planning. Though you can certainly go the whole distance and copy one or two (or all) of the parties here, the value in this book is in the approach it takes in preparing for a gathering. The possibilities are endless; just apply the principles here and you’re on your way to a very special party. And if you’re not someone who usually hosts gatherings, the book makes an excellent gift for the event planner in your family.

KTC rating:

image from Amazon; affiliate links

Post from: Keeping the Castle

I picked the winning comment using random.org. And the number that was picked was:

#85! Congratulations to Patti!

Patti
Jul 30, 2008 at 6:26 pm

This magazine is wonderful. I’ve picked it up a few times, but don’t subscribe! Thanks for the chance!

I hope you enjoy this magazine as much as I do. I will send you an email about the details.

Post from: Keeping the Castle

Over the past months, I subscribed to quite a few magazines. Some of them still have to start arriving. I don’t know if I’ll eventually regret the subscriptions. If simply become clutter, I will. But my rationale is that I’m looking for one (or two) good house and home magazines. And the only way I can truly evaluate them is by trying out a subscription. Anyway, I can always cancel my subscription next year.

I took advantage of the sale on home magazines on Amazon.com to order the following:

* Better Homes and Gardens

* Domino

* FamilyFun

While I’m waiting for these new magazines, here are the contents of a couple I already have:

Cooking Light (July 2008)

How to make a decorative pie-crust

Focus on ingredients: Kiwifruit and summer squash

Regionally-inspired menus for the Fourth of July celebrations: New England, The Midwest, and The Southwest

Feature on the Boston-based nonprofit EarthWorks (with recipes)

Tips on how to bring out the best in fresh produce with proper care and handling

Marinating 101

A look at the cuisine of California’s wine country, with suggestions for a well-stocked California pantry

Dinner helps: Kebab recipes for beef, pork, shrimp and chicken

I didn’t realize until I flipped through my first issue of Cooking Light that the magazine also contains non-food related articles. This July issue also features budget management, vacation tips to historical sites, fitness and exercise routines gleaned from tennis, and designing your dream bath.

Consumer Reports (July 2008)

Warm-weather wines

Digital photo frames

Credit cards with reward programs

Digital photography gear, including point-and-shoots, photo printers, and digital SLRs

Air conditioners

Decking and stains

Gas-saving sedans

* CR further investigates health cards and medical lenders; tips for cutting cooling costs; aggressive medical treatment. Also: long-lasting lipsticks, tips for flying on time, anger control, debt and borrowing, and saving at the gas pump.

Creative Commons image by bravenewtraveler on Flickr

Post from: Keeping the Castle

I know about crockpot cooking and pressure cooking. But it’s the first time I’ve heard about cooking entire meals in a rice cooker. Sure, I have a rice cooker (can’t live without it!). But I use it for one thing and one thing only: cooking plain (aka steamed) rice.

I didn’t even realize that a rice cooker can function like a slow cooker, only it’s faster. Neal Bertrand shares his recipes for “60 quick, easy meals you can make in a rice cooker”, in his cookbook Rice Cooker Meals: Fast Home Cooking for Busy People. Cooking meals in a rice cooker are a great alternative for college students, campers and those who want to cook at home but don’t have the space or equipment for it.

The cookbook includes recipes for jambalayas, casseroles, seafood, pastas, yams, soups, potatoes, cabbage and rice side dishes. Two sample recipes (pdf files) are provided at RiceCookerMeals.com: Black-eyed pea and sausage jambalaya, and Chicken and Pasta.

I’ll have to rethink the way I use my rice cooker.

Post from: Keeping the Castle

Comment #8, who is:

Kathy Scott
May 29, 2008 at 7:36 am

Great ideas. Thanks for the chance.

Congratulations, Kathy! You’re the winner of the book, The Peaceful Nursery by Laura Forbes Carlin and Alison Forbes. Thanks to everyone for joining.

Post from: Keeping the Castle

House Beautiful (on sale for $12; cover price is $47.40)

Martha Stewart Living (on sale for $28; cover price is $59.20)

Good Housekeeping (on sale for $10; cover price is $30)

Domino (on sale for $10; cover price is $35)

Dwell Magazine (on sale for $19.95; cover price is $39.60)

Family Fun (on sale for $9.95; cover price is $29.90)

Family Handyman (on sale for $19.97; cover price is $39.90)

Real Simple (on sale for $23.68; cover price is $54)

Better Homes and Gardens (on sale for $14.97; cover price is $41.88)

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Post from: Keeping the Castle

Rosemary Chieppo, a professional organizer and author of Clutter, Chaos & the Cure, defines being organized very simply:

If you can find what you need when you need it, you’re organized.

That’s it. Even if there’s a pile of papers on your desk. If you know exactly what’s in that pile, you’re more organized than someone who has everything in folders but spends 10 minutes looking for one piece of paper in them.

Here are some tips for organizing any space in your home:

* Keep items near their point of use. This is why we never lose our toothbrushes.

* Give everything its own home.

* Keep your system simple to make it easy to maintain. A few simple files will be easier to keep up with than an elaborate cross-referencing method.

via Lubbock Online; image via Amazon.com

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Post from: Keeping the Castle

Touted as Cooking Light’s “most comprehensive and user-friendly cookbook to date”, the Cooking Light Complete Cookbook doesn’t disappoint. With more than 1,200 recipes and 600 photos, it is a hefty reference book for any healthy kitchen.

Some of this cookbook’s features are:

* a binder that wipes clean
* a complete entertaining section
* tips and techniques for the beginning cook
* information about seasonal produce
* tips for reducing your carbon footprint as you cook
* a wine guide
* and, last but definitely not the least, an interactive DVD

As I browsed through the book, I realized that the recipes are not ordinary run-of-the-mill dishes. There are classic meals that are given makeovers to make them healthier. Also to be found are recipes adapted from all over the world, such as this Vegetarian Pad Thai:

I also found the tips scattered throughout the book extremely helpful. I learn more from excellent photos like these, than from mere descriptions of how beaten egg whites are supposed to look:

I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of the mountain of information available in this book. And then there’s still the DVD! I have to say that I love the DVD. It includes 40 videos showing cooking techniques and tips, and 100 recipes that include planning helps and shopping lists. Even if you’re already an experienced cook , I’m pretty sure you’ll find something new in this cookbook/DVD combo.

KTC Rating:

(food images used with permission via The Rosen Group; book cover from Amazon.com)

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Post from: Keeping the Castle