Ode To Oatmeal, Zapped Chook and Spaghetti Pizza -HBHW Newsletter

September 8th 2009

Editorial

How was your Labor Day weekend? (For those of you outside the US, Monday was Labor Day here in the United States. Schools and such are usually closed and everyone enjoys one last long summer weekend). We ended up just hanging out with family, grilling, relaxing and having a great time.

I did spent a little bit of time working this weekend (not too much though – family came first), and put a neat little report together for you. You’ll find it a little further down in the newsletter instead of the featured article. It’s a free report all about oatmeal with some of my favorite recipes (some are my one, some were shared by some good friends) and you are welcome to share the report with family and friends. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I’ve enjoyed putting it together for you.

I’ve also had a blast hanging out in the HBHW Club forum this past weekend getting to know all of you that joined the club recently. We have some great discussions going on and I can’t wait to pop back in and see what else is going on.

Other than that I’ve been working away on another little project. It has to do with Halloween, but that’s all I’m ready to reveal at this point. I should be able to reveal more later this week and will send you an email about it – look for it on Thursday.

I better wrap this up and get my kitchen cleaned and something put together for dinner that my husband can just shove in the stove at the appropriate time. We have our first girl scout meeting of the season and I’ll be gone most of the afternoon for that. My daughter and I are both excited to see the rest of our troop. We’ve been missing them all summer and are looking forward to another fun and educational year.

That’s it for this week. As always, I welcome your comments and suggestions. Feel free to email me at susanne@hillbillyhousewife.com

Warm Regards,

Susanne – The Hillbilly Housewife

Inspirational Quote

“Half of the troubles of this life can be traced to saying yes too quickly and not saying no soon enough.” – Josh Billings

Reader Question

I have tried the magic milkshakes, and my husband kids and I love them. I seldom have ice cream in my house either but my kids love milkshakes, so this is a wonderful recipe for me to use.

I do have a question about them. Have you ever tried a strawberry one. I have tried a few different things to make one, and it never seems to taste right.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Denise K.

Hi Denise, I haven’t … you may want to post the question as a comment on that page. I’m sure someone has tried it and come up with a version that tastes well. My initial thought would be to use strawberry sirup, or to make a vanilla version and exchange some of the ice for frozen strawberries.

If someone has created a strawberry version, would you mind posting some directions for Denise as a comment on the Magic Milkshake Recipe page?

Susanne

News From The HBHW Club

This is a new section of the newsletter. Each week I’m going to share some tidbits of what’s going on at the HBHW Club with you. I hope you enjoy these extra tips, recipes and ideas and of course would love to have you join the club.

As a HBHW newsletter subscriber, you can join for only $10 per month here: http://www.hillbillyhousewifeclub.com/special.html

And to make it even easier, I’ll let you try it out for just a dollar for the first 7 days.

Here’s one of the recipes that were submitted this past week.

After-School Taco Dip Snack

* 1 (8 oz) container sour cream
* 1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
* salt and pepper

Toppings:

* salsa or diced tomatoes
* green pepper
* black olives
* green onion
* shredded lettuce
* grated cheddar cheese

Mix together the sour cream and cream cheese, with a dash of salt and pepper to flavor.  Spread the mixture onto a big plate or platter.  Top with any ingredients that the kids like.  Put in refrigerator to get firm, at least 1 hour.

Serve with big tortilla chips, warmed in the oven just before the kids arrive home from school.

And here are some of the other recipes that have been added in the past few days.

• Chicken Chow Mein Noodle Casserole
• Shredded Barbecue Beef Burgers – Crock Pot
• Mother Hubbard Bars
• Anytime Beef Stroganoff
• Chili Cheese Biscuits

All in all, we have over 190 new recipes in the member area already.

This week we’ve been talking about what things you can use twice and which ones you can cut in half to save more. We’re also discussing how to stretch ground beef using oats, sewing, making your own microwave popcorn and more on the HBHW forums. I’m also implementing weekly email updates for Club members and of course we are still sharing daily frugal tips.

Ready to join us? Try The HBHW Club for only $1. We’d love to have you! http://www.hillbillyhousewifeclub.com/special.html

Featured Article

Instead of an article I have a special free report for you this week. I called it “Ode to Oatmeal” and if you’ve been following my blog for a while you know that I love oatmeal for breakfast. I put together some information for you on why oatmeal is so healthy, what makes it the perfect frugal breakfast choice as well as some of my favorite oatmeal recipes. Enjoy!

Ode to Oatmeal (pdf)

You’re welcome to share this report with anyone you think may benefit from it.

Frugal Tips

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Recipes

Here are some of the most recent recipes that have been added to the HBHW site. Enjoy!

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Do you have a recipe you would like to share? Click here to send it to me and I’ll be happy to add it to the website.

I’m Looking For:

This section is going to be all about you. If you are looking for a particular recipe or a tip on how to do something, submit it here and I will post it in an upcoming newsletter. I’ll give you my input and other readers of the newsletter will have the opportunity to share their recipes and tips as well. So take a moment to post your questions and of course if you have a tip or idea for any question posted in this section feel free to leave a comment under the appropriate post.

I’m Looking For Requests
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I’m Looking For Responses
Below you will find some of the recent responses to the “I’m Looking For” Requests. You may also want to go directly to this section and browse through all the recent submissions and replies. To do so, click on “I’m Looking for” here, and start looking through them.
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Inspirational Story

SHAKE IT OFF AND STEP UP

Author Unknown

A parable is told of a farmer who owned an old mule. The mule fell into the farmer’s well. The farmer heard the mule ‘braying’ – or – whatever mules do when they fall into wells. After carefully assessing the situation, the farmer sympathized with the mule, but decided that neither the mule nor the well was worth the trouble of saving. Instead, he called his neighbors together and told them what had happened…and enlisted them to help haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well and put him out of his misery.

Initially, the old mule was hysterical! But as the farmer and his neighbors continued shoveling and the dirt hit his back…a thought struck him. It suddenly dawned on him that every time a shovel load of dirt landed on his back…HE SHOULD SHAKE IT OFF AND STEP UP! This he did, blow after blow.

“Shake it off and step up…shake it off and step up…shake it off and step up!” he repeated to encourage himself. No matter how painful the blows, or distressing the situation seemed the old mule fought “panic” and just kept right on SHAKING IT OFF AND STEPPING UP!

You’re right! It wasn’t long before the old mule, battered and exhausted, STEPPED TRIUMPHANTLY OVER THE WALL OF THAT WELL! What seemed like it would bury him, actually blessed him…all because of the manner in which he handled his adversity.

THAT’S LIFE! If we face our problems and respond to them positively, and refuse to give in to panic, bitterness, or self-pity…THE ADVERSITIES THAT COME ALONG TO BURY US USUALLY HAVE WITHIN THEM THE POTENTIAL TO BENEFIT AND BLESS US! Remember that FORGIVENESS–FAITH–PRAYER– PRAISE and HOPE…all are excellent ways to “SHAKE IT OFF AND STEP UP” out of the wells in which we find ourselves!

Final Thought

That’s it for this edition of the Hillbilly Housewife Newsletter. I hope you’ve had as much fun reading it as I had creating it for you. I also hope that you have found the information helpful and useful. And by all means feel free to forward the newsletter to family and friends or even better, encourage them to subscribe to it.

Do you have a question, a tip, a recipe or a story you’d like to share with us? Email it to me and I’ll include it in a future issue. Can’t wait to see what you have to say.

Warm Wishes,

Susanne – The Hillbilly Housewife