Simple Gifts

Thrifty Thursday:: Eating Well for Less

nissa@gadboisfamily.com (Nissa Gadbois) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:45:30 +0000

I love to save money. I love to eat. So, this is going to be a very enjoyable post for me to write.

If you read any of my “Fit in 40” posts from last year (more to come this year, I pray), you will remember that we are a big time organic/natural-food-eating, holistic-medicine-healing family. That can get awfully expensive for an average sized family. Multiply that by two (in our case) or more, and you’ve got a potential budget buster.

But there are some options for you to consider:

1. Join a traditional organic food co-op.
- Order once a month
- Buy in bulk at wholesale prices
- Take a turn helping with unload, sort, and pack
- Often free to join, but there is sometimes a surcharge or “upcharge”
- Organic dry and canned goods available. Some co-ops offer meats, dairy, and produce

2. Buy a CSA share
- Pay up front for a year’s worth of produce, picked up at the farm weekly
- milkshares (cow or goat) are also available at some farms
- CSAs are all unique - some offer only one type of food, others offer a wider variety
- breaks down to about HALF retail prices
- half shares available for couples, or families with one or two small children
- some farms allow weekly payments - especially for milk/meat only CSAs
- some farms offer the opportunity to work on the farm, or require a few hours/month

3. Marathon cooking/Once-a-Month Cooking/Freezer Cooking
- Plan a fortnight’s or month’s worth of meals in advance
- Take advantage of sales
- Take advantage of seasonal foods
- Gives you strict control over ingredients - no impulse junk food buying/cooking
- Little to no waste since you’ve purchased only what you need to complete your recipes.
- Shop in between for perishables (milk, salads, fresh fruits)
- Always food on hand for company or a neighbour/friend in need
- Shop one day - cook the next
- Add a third day just for baking
- Freeze everything, labeled well, pull out the day before to thaw in the fridge.
- Save on average about 30% on your food bill by buying only what you need for recipes and avoiding impulse shopping!

Any of these options, if you have storage space, and/or are willing to do a little extra work, will save you a bundle on your grocery budget. Often you can save 30-50%. Wouldn’t that ease your purse a bit?

Find a Cooperative Buyers Group
Find a CSA

Check out Hearth and Home Co-operative for great prices on organic and natural food and supplement buys (and a BUNCH of other really great stuff!).

If you live in Southern New England, check out Renaissance Farms for a really fabulous CSA. It’s totally different than any other CSA in the region - it’s year-round, it’s free choice, it’s got produce, milk, meat, and eggs - and the shop offers near wholesale prices to CSA members on other organic groceries (no bulk buying), discounts on other natural living supplies and discounts on classes at the farm. It costs about $5/week/family member and you get about $12/week/family member worth of farm products (your choice!). That’s a lot of bang for your buck - eat for 60% less! 10% of everything grown goes to local food pantries and shelters, and 10% of profits from the shop goes to charitable ministries… And it’s ours!

Adoptive Parents, Can you Help?

nissa@gadboisfamily.com (Nissa Gadbois) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:12:52 +0000

This could be a long post, and somewhat disjointed, so I apologize in advance.

Brian and I are expecting our 7th child in just a few weeks… So why am I asking about adoption?

To begin with, I never thought that my family would be built by birth children. I always thought that it would be built through adoption. I was adopted (step-parent), my grandmother was a foster child after the death of her mom, and Nana fostered two children, one of them for three years. There were “female problems” amongst all of her daughters (my 3 aunties and my mother). All of them had hysterectomies by their mid-20s. Nana was 36 when she had hers.

So adoption and infertility were part of life for me from an early age. Brian and I have been disappointed that we haven’t been able to adopt. The doors have kept closing - and now that we have a large family, it has become even more difficult. But it remains on our hearts. And we feel so very blessed with the children God has given us. We know that they are meant for something wonderful. They are - every one of them - so generous and enthusiastic about adoption. They are aware, having walked this road with us, of the importance of family, the importance of doing all we can to help other children experience the love and the joy we have in our own home.

I know that God has been keeping us on a very specific path, though I’m not entirely clear where it’s leading other than that we are supposed to do something to help children who are waiting for families. We have looked at adoption programs for several countries over the years, and were drawn to a few of them particularly - namely Russia and Kazakhstan. But we kept getting pulled increasingly to look at Poland. I grew up surrounded by Polish culture - the town my grandparents lived in is heavily populated with Polish descendants. My step-mom is 3rd generation American - all four of her grandparents are from Poland, a heritage that she has eagerly and generously shared with my family.

There are 20,000 children waiting for families in Poland. Sibling groups of 3 and more are not uncommon. One fourth of the country lives below the poverty line, which accounts for the high numbers of children in care. Interestingly, Poland is the *only* program we’ve ever seen with a stated preference for Catholic families, and the adoption fees are lower (much lower in some cases) than other countries’ programs.

School-aged children, children with special needs (ranging from very minor to more complex), sibling groups, and boys are all hard-to-place. It is these children that Brian and I are most interested in helping. We’ve been blessed with the opportunity to have newborn babes and wee ones in our lives, so we don’t have a desire to adopt a wee babe. There are so many parents who still long for that experience, and those little ones will always have a list of people waiting to adopt them.

Over the years, I have worked with two different orphan hosting programs - as an event planner, and as a host mom. Those were wonderful, meaningful experiences. Although we were unable to adopt our boys (turned down for a homestudy because we homeschool and our family was “too large”), we saw so clearly how much attitudes were changed about these “hard-to-place” kids. Folks (host families and others) saw that these kids were lovable, smart, and could acclimate nicely to a functional family environment. Of course, they were not without challenges, but overall those were quite manageable.

Which brings me to where we are today… Brian and I have been holding on to an idea whose time has come. We are working to establish an orphan hosting program of our own. The name of our organization is One Family Foundation. We are looking for volunteers to help us with various projects, specifically advocacy and organization.

We need help to:

- raise awareness about Poland’s waiting children, including more detailed research work.

- put together the paperwork and channels for the hosting program to work.

- publicize our ministry

- organize at least one regional hosting program sometime in the next 12 months

We are also seeking the talents of at least one social worker, a grantwriter, a lawyer. It would be helpful to have folks who have experience or interest in event planning, fundraising, and PR.

We would also like to hear from adoptive families, especially larger ones. We would like to find social workers willing to write testimonial letters about the wisdom of approving experienced families for adoption of hard-to-place children. We are interested in contacting political leaders in states where family size is arbitrarily limited.

This is an all volunteer effort. Brian and I are funding this with our own money at the moment - principally from the sales of Simple Gifts Magazine, my Home Management Book, and Brian’s income from contracting.

We’re all so busy here, and I understand that folks are already committed to other things. Perhaps you could help get the word out to other adoptive families you know who might be interested in helping. There is a contact link on the website.

And I ask for your prayers for this project, and for waiting kids everywhere.

More Co-op-y Goodness

nissa@gadboisfamily.com (Nissa Gadbois) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 21:21:35 +0000

We’re saving some money over on the Hearth and Home Co-op. We’ve just closed our first yarn order and are working on our second round of Chrism Essence. Coming up next…

Organic Whole Grains for all you baking mamas out there.

Blessed Beans Coffees - a portion of the proceeds go to One Family Foundation and to Renaissance Farms efforts to support local church-run food pantries and shelters.

Organic/Natural Cold Season Supplements and Remedies - because you *know* the sniffles are on the way.

Come on over - the shopping is fine! And the more the merrier!

Hearth and Home Co-operative membership is free, and you never have to buy more than you need (i.e. no bulk buying is necessary), in fact you don’t have to buy anything at all. But that’s just silly. There’s such great stuff on offer, you’re bound to find SOMETHING you need. The co-operative is open to anyone in the US or Canada, or US military installations overseas. So what are you waiting for? I don’t think anyone reading this blog is a go-zillionaire. And if you are, would you drop me a line, I’d like to beg you for some of it…
Seriously… Who doesn’t LOVE a bargain?

ETA:: We have a Michael Miller Fabric buy coming up, too! I guess that there are a lot of ladies that are working on a project from the Serendipity site, who have been after some Flower Fairy Fabric. The co-op price should be 30%-50% off retail.

AND

Christmas DVDs for a steal…

A Rite of Passage

nissa@gadboisfamily.com (Nissa Gadbois) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:54:04 +0000

I’m growing up. Today I took Cate, my oldest daughter, out to buy her first semi-formal dress. She’s going to a party for her best friend’s 16th birthday. I remember this… I remember what it felt like to go shopping for my first special party dress. It was a little white lace dress that went all the way to the floor. It had a lovely wide skirt and a ruffle along the bodice. I remember the little open-toed shoes we bought - and the white hose. I remember my mother letting me borrow the beautiful white beaded evening bag that is now mine.

It’s funny, I thought that since I was now taking *my* daughter on her first shopping trip for a special dress I should feel sort of… well… old. Instead, I forgot I wasn’t 17 years old. It was great fun picking out a sweet little dress, trying things on - knowing that *this* was THE dress. Of course we had to go to another shop to find pumps to match. We talked about all the little sparkly things in my jewelry box that would go *just perfectly* with the outfit. I can’t wait to try the dress on again and raid the box.

Our little girl is nearly a grown woman, and I’m still just a giddy girl myself. Who would have imagined that such a thing was possible?

Sunday shout out

nissa@gadboisfamily.com (Nissa Gadbois) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 13:22:17 +0000

To our family at the House of Studies!

We spent Friday evening - all eight plus of us - enjoying dinner with Father Jim and the newest group of seminarians. We were more than twenty around the table. That’s my kind of family meal. Most of the men are from Colombia, taking an academic year to improve their English before heading to seminary. So, over dinner, we conversed in Spanglish - that funny combination of Spanish and English.

“The boys” as Brian and I call them (they are so young!), seemed genuinely pleased to see little kids. Our children were fed (and fed again), they were played with, and entertained with movies, ping pong, and chess. They were cuddled and talked to, and made much of.

Louis enjoyed the shiny hardwood floors - they’re pretty great for sliding around on in your socks! Louis ran up and down the stairs to where his Papa was tinkering on the computers, trying to get them working well enough for the boys to communicate by webcams with their folks back home. While Cate and Carrie ran around behind Lou to keep him out of trouble, Jack was enjoying the newly converted game room - throwing darts and occasionally playing pool or pingpong with Will. Carrie and Will played a lot of chess with some of our seminarians - and Will had a lovely game with Fr. Jim - whom our children have dubbed The Reverend Uncle.

So while the children were all occupied, and Pa was upstairs playing with the computer equipment, I had a wonderful, long visit with Alison (Fr. Jim’s assistant) over a steaming mug of tea. She has five children, so we have a lot in common - besides a love for our Church and the people in it. We talked about her kids, and mine while stopping to pick up babies and put them down. She mentioned that she already knew my little ones from reading Simple Gifts - I think her daughter Sarah would like me to point out that *she* as reading it first. Thank you, Sarah!

When Alison needed to make a call, I sat and chatted with Joe - a hopeful seminarian, who it turns out, comes from the same town where my grandparents raised their children - and where I spent so much of my childhood. I hope you all will add your prayers to ours that he is accepted soon into the program. It really amazes me that we have so many, many young men here willing to answer the call to priesthood when everything in society says that they should do otherwise. I am so very hopeful for our Church.

We left late in the evening with a busload of tired kids. The little ones fell asleep long before we reached our door, and everyone had a good lie-in yesterday morning. That’s how you know that the evening before was a great one!

Thank you everyone at the House for having us to a delicious dinner, and welcoming us as part of the family. We’re looking forward to our next visit with all of you. And next time… I’m helping with the dishes.

PS to Fr. Jim - thank you so much for the take-home treats. The cake is nearly gone (plenty of little finger strokes in the frosting, I’m not sure how they got there…). Last night we enjoyed Pasta alla Mazzone from the sauce you sent us home with. It was delicious! Oh, and the kids have been singing “Hot Chocolate” every waking moment since leaving you. I’ll have to make some with breakfast.

Keeping Christmas Simple :: Part 2:: Handmade from the Heart

nissa@gadboisfamily.com (Nissa Gadbois) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 12:35:01 +0000

For most of our marriage, I have made Christmas gifts for our children and for family. At first, I think handmades were looked upon as somehow, second-class gifts. However, over the years, as our skills have grown, and as we’ve thought more about the recipients, handmade gifts have have come to be cherished. Our extended family looks forward to what we’ll be making each year.

We assemble gift baskets for our families, filled with whatever we’ve made. We follow a rule of thumb - no clothing (each person has his or her own individual style that might be offended by our choices), no home decor (pretty much the same reason). We focus on consumable gifts which limits us to candles, foods/mixes, bath & body… I like to include a small piece of jewelry for my nieces sometimes. Book thongs and rosaries are appropriate for everyone on the list. Chrism scented candles, shea butter handcreams, soaps, and bath salts are appreciated by the ladies. I will probably include a decadent handmade candy or biscuits for the gents to enjoy.

Our neighbours will receive a tin of cookies sometime during Christmas week. They always seem to be a welcome treat since their own houses are busy with Christmas guests. We have such fun baking batch after batch. Each one is looked over, smelled, sampled. We’ve had some clear winners, and only a few duds over the years. The best have been the dutch butter cookies - heavenly! The house smells wonderful. No wonder bakers are such happy people.

So while the rest of the world is out scrambling in the shops, fighting for parking spaces, lugging heavy bags through cold and slush to fill the car boot - and wishing they hadn’t spent quite so much money, we’re cozied up at home with Christmas music playing in the background, hot mugs of tea or cocoa, and a fire burning in the hearth thinking of the people we’re making presents for, and wrapping gifts with a prayer.

Christmas doesn’t need to be complicated. Simple is wonderful. When we say “it’s the thought that counts”, what we mean is that thoughtful gifts - ones that give us the opportunity to actually think about the recipient - are the best gifts of all.

So Thankful…

nissa@gadboisfamily.com (Nissa Gadbois) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 01:15:28 +0000

To God for His protection, for all the Angels and Saints - and especially for Louis’ and my guardian angels. I’m sure we had an army surrounding us this afternoon.

I’m still shaking, hours later. Both at the fright we had, and at God’s mercy.

Louis and I were sitting at the computer together. I was working, he was “working”. Suddenly, he gagged. When I looked down at him, he was already dusky. I tried to sweep his mouth, but the object slipped further back down his throat. Somehow I stood up, tipped his hefty 30+lb body over and slapped him hard on the back, while calling for help. Brian reached the bottom of the stairs just as the bottle cap was expelled. Louis was a little angry with me for the whack on the back. He let out a howl - and it was the loveliest sound I’ve ever heard him make apart from his first cry. I held him for a few moments before Brian took him from me.

That’s when my legs went out from under me. I was suddenly 16-and-a-half years in the past, holding a dusky newborn baby girl, tweaking her feet and patting her bottom. That little girl was our Cate. She was septic and having trouble breathing - we later found out. She was fine after a week in NICU and has grown to be a lovely young woman.

How could one woman be so blessed?

Hug those babes tight. They are so precious.

Get your copy!

nissa@gadboisfamily.com (Nissa Gadbois) — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:31:07 +0000

The Simple Gifts Magazine winter issue is available beginning today. You can download it by clicking the image above. There is a complete menu with recipes, craft patterns, and other lovely things. I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed creating it.

CLICK HERE TO GET OUR COPY!

I’m enjoying…

nissa@gadboisfamily.com (Nissa Gadbois) — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 02:30:21 +0000

A petite cup of pink tea with my baby gal…

Won’t you join us?

Sunday Smile

nissa@gadboisfamily.com (Nissa Gadbois) — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 19:14:15 +0000

Did someone say brownies?