Simple, homemade maple syrup

Do you know it's simple and cheap to make your own homemade maple syrup? Just combine 1 cup white sugar, 1 cup brown sugar and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil and continue to boil for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and add 1/2 tsp. maple extract. Store in the refrigerator. Yep, it's that easy! This recipe will be thin, much more like real maple syrup than the store bought fake stuff! And once again, no weird preservatives or additives! (Seriously, look at the label on your store bought pancake syrup!)

Homemade "Hershey's"

Easy, peasy, amazing homemade chocolate syrup!! Move over Hershey's!! Warning-you will want to hug me after this....

Have you ever looked at the ingredients on the back of your chocolate syrup bottle? (The following is from our Great Value brand chocolate syrup bottle.) First thing is high fructose corn syrup. Read a little farther and you'll find artificial flavor, preservatives and my daughter's favorite "may contain traces of anchovies."

What if you could have inexpensive, homemade (i.e. know what's in it!), delicious chocolate syrup in just minutes using basic pantry ingredients? Who could say no to that?

Well, ladies and gents here it is"

Chocolate Syrup

1 1/2 cups water 1 1/2 cups white sugar 1 cup cocoa powder

1 dash salt 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine the water, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt together in a saucepan over low heat; whisk constantly until the mixture thickens and begins to simmer. Remove from heat and stir the vanilla into the sauce. Serve warm or cover and refrigerate until serving. Yep, that's it! And it's delish!!

Check out that ingredient list!! Gag!

Meal Planning For The Real World

Meal planning. It's a huge key to saving money on groceries and whether you follow a blog, read a magazine article, etc., you'll hear it's praises sung. We've definitely discussed it here at Nine on a Nickel and I'm a firm believer in it!

However, most of the meal planning instructions I see look something like this-

Meatless Mondays

Taco Tuesdays

Pasta Wednesdays

Crockpot Thursdays

Etc. Etc. Etc.

Well, maybe that structure works great for some, but flexibility is the name of the game in our house! Our schedules can get a little nutty around here, to say the least. I may need a crockpot meal one week on a Monday and the next week I may need it on a Thursday. So what's the chef to do?

I like to look at the calendar before I plan my meals for the next week (or sometimes two if I'm really on the ball!) If multiple kids have activities on the same night, I know that might be a good night for a crockpot meal or even leftovers (everyone can heat a plate of food when it's convenient for them.) I do have a basic idea of what I will be cooking each week and then I just fill in the dates and details. It looks something like this:

-Pasta (a weekly staple here. It's cheap, quick and a crowd pleaser.)

-Homemade pizza (most always a weekend treat. Sometimes we splurge for carryout!)

-Breakfast for supper night (cheap, easy AND a kid pleaser)

-Leftover night (if you are cooking at home most nights, leftover night shouldn't be a problem!)

Immediately I know what I'm making for four nights (more or less) and then I fill in the other 3 nights with whatever recipes I can make based on what's in the pantry/freezer and what's on sale. My brain is scrambled enough most of the time, meal planning has to be on autopilot! Ha! I love the ease of practically not even thinking about 4 meals a week. I also like planning when I'm going to use an "easy" meal night (like breakfast for supper or a crockpot meal) based on our schedule not a set day of the week. The other nights I tend to cook a little bit more elaborate meals. The four meals listed above are cheap meals and allow me to spend a little more on the other three meals and still stay within budget!

Ways to save money when meal planning include planning meals around weekly sales and pairing them with what's already in your pantry or deep freezer. Plan your meals and then hit the grocery store! Know what cheap, filling foods your family will eat. Don't think every meal has to focus on a large cut of meat. We usually have a small amount of the main dish (usually the more expensive part of the meal) and round out the meal with veggies, fruit, and bread (cheaper, yet nutritious foods.). For example, we don't eat pounds and pounds of meat each night for dinner. If we are going to have a big roast one night, then the next night might be a meat-free night with whole wheat pasta and veggies. If you need more suggestions on saving money on groceries, read this post- http://nineonanickel.blogspot.com/2013/01/lets-talk-groceries.html

Meal planning is a sure fire way to save your family money! Basing it around your busy life is even better! It's easy to grab fast food if you don't have a plan. A little preparation and planning can turn you into a regular Betty Crocker! Eating out isn't cheap and to come home to sandwich fixin's or a meal in the crockpot on those busy nights is easy on mama AND the wallet!

So plan your meals! Save money, save time and be then envy of every mom on the block 

Honey, coughs, and recalls???

If you pay attention to the news or even your Facebook or Twitter, you've probably noticed all the recalls that come up from time to time for cold medicine. Most recently I saw one for two popular brands of cough syrup. Scary, isn't it?

Now, I'm far from the crunchy, granola type, but I do like to use natural solutions when they are simple and easy and especially when they are cheap! Here is one of my favorite home remedies-honey for a cough. Did you know there is substantial, credible evidence that honey is AS effective as cough syrup for soothing a cough? What an inexpensive, SAFE solution! I'm not going to link all the research, but even the renowned Mayo Clinic has articles backing up this claim. Check it out for yourself! Just Google "honey and cough" and you'll be amazed at the evidence! Recently I had a kiddo sick with bronchitis and I called our insurance company's 24 hour Nurse Line and even they are recommending honey over cough syrup! Made my day to hear the medical community embracing a natural solution! "Dosage" varies depending on what you read, but 2 teaspoons seems to be the common amount. 

Honey has many great uses. Look for a blog coming soon on my love for honey in DIY beauty treatments!!

Have you used a natural remedy and been pleased with the results? Comment below!

**Remember that honey is NOT safe for babies under a year old!!  

**Also, did you know that you can sign up to receive emails direct from the government regarding recalled products? Stay in the know at http://www.recalls.gov/ .

McKinley Tickets winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered the McKinley giveaway! The winner of the family 4 pack of tickets is.....Sue Creager!! Hope you have a great time Creager family!!!

Look for more giveaways coming soon!!

Ready? Set? Are you prepared?

So we survived December 21. We proved those Mayans and those doomsday preppers wrong! I never thought the end of the world was near (and if it was, how the heck was a stockpile of food going to help those people? Apparently the term "end of the world" was lost on them. Just sayin'.)

Anywho, the whole debacle got me thinking about our food supply. We've all been to our local Wal-mart before a big snowstorm or heck, even a major holiday and have seen practically bare shelves. Big trucks making daily treks to those stores, yet they aren't stocked. What if those trucks couldn't get there or if the trucks didn't have anything to bring?

Let's be honest, our food supply is delicate and volatile. I won't go into the nitty gritty of our food supply, but I'm sure we can all agree it could be easily disrupted by a major natural disaster, gasoline shortage or heaven forbid, a major terror attack. Of course, the thought of our cushy American lives being disrupted in any way is not a pleasant thought, but for me a proactive approach to a potentially negative situation is always comforting.

We all need to take some time and a bit of money and get prepared. I'm not talking hoarders style prepping, but simple common sense prepping. I've realized in our own family that we are really ill prepared. So, I've decided to set a goal to prepare our family for a short term "disruption", whatever that could be.

What better time than tax season to tackle this project? Most of us with families will get some sort of refund.(If not scrounge up some cash. Skip your Starbucks for a month or something! You can do it!) I've decided to take just $100 and get prepared. At this point I'm focusing just on food. At some point I'll tackle the other stuff like an emergency kit with first aid supplies, batteries, etc. Sorry, but in the event of a disaster, food will trump a flashlight for me. Haha!!



I checked out ready.gov for some guidelines. Here are some of the basics:

• Store at least a 3 day supply of food. (This is per person! We are going to try and prepare for a week.)
• Remember any special dietary needs. (Think allergies, diabetics, etc.)
• Choose foods your family will eat. (I bet someone with a highly advanced degree thought of that one.)
• Avoid foods that will make you thirsty. (Okay, now someone put a little thought into that. Give that guy a raise...)
• Choose salt-free crackers, whole grain cereals and canned foods with high liquid content.

**Following a disaster there could be power outages. Be prepared with a manual can opener and foods that do not require cooking, refrigeration or water. Suggested foods include-

• Ready to eat canned meats, fruits, vegetables
• Peanut butter
• Dry cereal, or granola
• Dried fruit
• Nuts
• Crackers
• Canned juices
• Non-perishable pasteurized milk
• High energy foods
• Vitamins
• Food for infants
• Comfort/stress foods (This is my license to buy chocolate!!!)

On Ready.gov you can also find information on food safety and sanitation, as well as, cooking and managing food without power. Probably some good things to print off and keep in an emergency binder (if that sounds Greek to you, check out what should be in an emergency binder. Just Google it.)

The site also has a whole section just on water. And since it's been pounded into our heads since grade school that we can go longer without food than without water, this is an extremely important section. Since we have a well (which means no water without power) and have had several times of no water following power outages, I have a new found respect for the amount of water one needs to live a semi-normal life. Drinking, brushing your teeth, washing your hands, dishes etc. We use a TON of water. Please make sure that your preparation includes at least a gallon of water PER PERSON, for at least 3 days. 

I really urge you to check out Ready.gov or other sites that discuss emergency preparedness. This is certainly not a comprehensive list. While prepping has gotten somewhat of a bad rap, preparing for the unexpected doesn't make you a crazy person, it makes you smart. Except if you have a bunker and a hazmat suit. Then, well, all bets are off...

McKinley Museum and the new Fascination Station!

McKinley Museum....oh, how I love thee! Seriously, McKinley is one awesome museum! We have frequented McKinley for years and it's definitely our favorite museum!

 Recently our family had the opportunity to explore the all new Fascination Station set for grand opening on February 18th. I'll admit we were a little nervous to see what was new, because we had such a love for the old Space Station Earth exhibits. Let me say, we are THRILLED with the changes! Plus, some of our old favorites got to stick around!

One of our favorite "oldie, but goodie" was the Shadow Catcher. I promise your kids will spend a large part of their time posing and having their shadow "caught" of the green wall. We have laughed til we cried at some of our funny group poses. Previous exhibits that got to stay are the Bernoulli blower, a fun little science experiment that the small ones will have fun playing with different sized balls.  Also, the simulated tornado got to stay. It's pretty neat!

Now on to the new stuff! How about playing Tic Tac Toe with a robot? You can make your own "movie" with the green board and you get to choose your background. Lots of cool electric based exhibits are there to check out as well. I hope you are there when they have one of the electric show demonstrations. A funny and knowledgeable lady named Valerie hosted ours. It was very impressive and could definitely rival one of the big city museums! It's a "hair raising" experience....literally!

Fascination Station has so much to offer that everyone is sure to find something they like! But guess what? That's only one level of the museum. The first level (past admissions and the very cool giant pendulum) is an area with prehistoric exhibits and live animals! But you have to make it past the giant, roaring dinosaur first! You'll find a gift shop on this level, as well. The next level boasts a planetarium and offers shows throughout the day.

Head to the top floor for history related to President McKinley and the Canton area. There is a fun little "ride" (based on Timken wheel bearings, I think), that we've lovingly coined the S.S. Puke. You'll know exactly what I mean if you take a spin on it! Also, there is an area with rotating exhibits. Currently, it's "Life in Miniature", a collection of dollhouses and accessories. I was totally in love with every one of them!

Now, my personal favorite on the top floor-the Street of Shops! Take a step back in time to a life size replica of a historic town! A dentist, a doctor, a general store, a saloon and more! This "town" has it all! There is also a large area with running model trains. And our kids favorite spot on the top floor-the fire pole!

I hope my love for this local museum has come through in this blog piece. McKinley Museum truly is a gem in our community! I hope you take the time to check it out! On Monday, February 18 the McKinley Presidential Library & Museum will celebrate Presidents’ Day with activities throughout the Museum - open at 9 a.m. and close at 4 p.m.  There will be McKinley Gallery focus tours celebrating Canton’s own President William McKinley at 11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. There will be a special meet and greet from 11 a.m. to noon with Perry Brelish, an automotive instructor from Stark State College. He will talk about his time as a student building the Solar Clipper. There will be a scavenger hunt, take home craft and science demonstrations. The Planetarium Show is scheduled at 1:00….children need to be 5 years old to attend. Lunch will be available for purchase starting at 11:00.  There will be fun for the whole family at the McKinley Presidential Library & Museum!  Admission is $8 for adults, $7 for senior adults and $6 for children 3 to 18. (Although, I encourage you to purchase a family membership for just $52. It will get you in free to lots of great museums including Cosi, Carnegie and many other museums across the country! I promise the membership is totally worth it!)

The Museum is located at 800 McKinley Monument Dr. NW in Canton. For more information visit the website at www.mckinleymuseum.org.

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