In two words: Trader Joe’s. (ROCKS)

Second oven rack: ordered!

Another Trader Joe’s find: being used in dinner tonight with gnocchi (store-bought..don’t judge), crusty bread dipped in the aforementioned Dukkah, and roasted zucchini and cherry/grape tomatoes.

Pups hanging out — the middle one is my “grand-puppy.”

What I’m currently reading, so it’s sitting on my dining table.

My two favorite beverages..one expensive, one not. You be the judge.

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That highly personal, sensitive and frequently misunderstood topic? Autism.

My 12-year-old was diagnosed with “high functioning” autism at the age of four. I can still remember the date exactly, and I call it “A Day.” We don’t use the term “high functioning,” as it’s a misnomer and just confuses the issue more. Let’s just say that he was given the term “high functioning” because he is both verbal and able to function independently to an extent. Otherwise, don’t be fooled — it’s still autism. He used to suffer from dangerous, aggressive meltdowns. He was very self-injurious. He had socially-prohibitive behavioral and sensory skill deficits and his diet consisted solely of five to six items. He’d line up his toys (or the chairs in a therapist’s waiting room..even if people were in them), refuse eye contact, flip light switches on and off and cover his ears and hum if the rain or flourescent lights were too loud. Grunting, pointing, ignoring his name when called and an extremely high threshold for pain were typical, along with finger flapping and major fidgeting.

Eight and a half years later? He will look you in the eye..usually? Mostly? He no longer hurts himself or gets aggressive and his diet is more varied than most adults I know, and certainly more than any other child I have ever seen. He doesn’t like seams in his clothes, has to have tags cut off and won’t eat nuts or jello, but he can tolerate a storm and lights only bother him if he’s had a long, busy day with a lot of stimulation. There are still some meltdowns (rarely, and always at home as he locks things in until he gets in his ‘safe place’) and he still has some sensory issues. Mostly though, you’ll see his differences in social situations or when he speaks to you. He has the vocabulary and ability to express his thoughts on the level of a much older adult. He’s overly honest yet far-too-trusting with others. You know where you stand with him and he’s so smart, kids his age don’t always know how to interact with him, especially when he’s perseverating on a topic that he loves, usually online gaming or Pokemon.

What caused the improvement, other than plain hard work on his part? A lot of various therapies. A lot of hours at the occupational therapist’s office. Behaviorists in my house and at school. Teachers. (Some..others caused more problems that took years to resolve.) Money. Time. And a boatload of dietary changes. In fact, healing him sparked our natural living journey, but that’s far too long of a post to add onto this one. I’ll talk about that another day, when I’m not already exhausted on the subject.

I love my son. To the moon and back, valley and mountain, highs and lows, darks and lights, he is my heart. I am more proud of him than words can express, and only my husband and I and his siblings know, and appreciate, how his childhood was less “child” and more “work,” as he had to learn how to interact, behave, tolerate, deal, regulate..the list goes on. When someone tells me “You couldn’t tell he’s autistic,” I am happy…yet more often than not, it’s a person’s way of saying “Ha, he’s fine, you’re just making excuses for his differences” because they weren’t around when he was at his worst, or even just a couple of years ago. Without a comparison gauge, without having seen him throughout the years, no one will really understand just how bad it was,  and how fan-freaking-tastic he is doing now. So good, in fact, that at times it slips my mind that there was ever anything wrong with him.

Until a day like today.

We dropped the Yorkie off at the veterinarian’s office at 7:30 for a routine dental cleaning under sedation, with removal of a few benign adenomas being done simultaneously. Then we headed off to the dentist so my son could get his teeth cleaned and have his six-month exam.

To back up a bit — dentist appointments are nightmares for anyone with sensory issues. Lights are bright, people are in your face, touching you, looking closely at you. Their hands are in your mouth, along with cold, smelly, sharp and funny-textured tools. Sometimes things are mushy and you might have to bite something and hold perfectly still to avoid radiation exposure or a mistake. (And let me say, with as literal as autistic kids are, when you say “hold still,” they HOLD STILL. It’s not out of obedience..it’s fear.) We have to plan ahead of time, talk about what might happen, talk through the whole event, and even then, we only use dentists that are highly-skilled in caring for special needs children. Trust me, many dentists out there can’t tolerate the moving around, the incessant questions and the need to see everything before it’s just stuck in the mouth. If you find one that is good, kind, and compassionate, don’t lose their number.

My son was prepped for the appointment and did fine throughout the cleaning. As usual, he had a litany of questions that the hygienist so patiently addressed. He got through it all, until he learned they were going to do sealants for two at-risk teeth.

Oh no.

The squirming started. The questions increased and the voice went up an octave. Hands started waving. Then it happened — they found a tiny cavity.

OH NO.

We’ve been through this before, with this very same dentist, so she understood him and didn’t freak out. She was talking him off the ledge, addressing his panic, by name and by gesture, immediately. I rubbed his calves to let him know I was there, until I had to grab his hands to keep them from preventing the dentist from completing the filling. It was only about five to ten minutes, but it felt like a lot longer.

Fast-forward, we are home. He’s decompressing by eating some horrible sodium-packed instant soup and playing on his computer. I had made things worse by insisting on going into Target, which is right across the street from the dentist, for toilet paper and a few other necessities. So I did what any rational parent does: let him buy an Icee. (Sweet, he chose the white lemonade!) He happily sucked on that (which was okay with the dentist) during Target AND Trader Joe’s, where I picked up some organic zucchini and cheese tortellini for meals tonight and tomorrow. (More on that later.)

I’m ready for a nap. I’m so tempted to actually try to sleep. I still have to pick up the pup at the vet later this evening, but I probably have at least 2-3 hours. I am NOT a napper, it’s not in my nature, but it’s also too early for the wine…

So while I sometimes forget that autism is still there, hiding around the corner, it jumped out today and smacked us silly. I had to go from being “mom” to being “warrior mom,” where I refuse the flouride treatment and I calm him down before the entire office hears him. He did the work — not me. He did amazing, I just did what any mom does in a situation like that, but it still was definitely a moment of “oof.” A sucker punch to the gut where you are reminded that autism is still a reality. But we don’t dwell. We deal. He may appear “normal,” for whatever that word is worth, but there are still things in there that he has to work on. I think we all have some things like that, but I won’t lessen his accomplishments by thinking they’re the same thing as what he, and any other kid with autism, deals with daily.

Okay, it’s almost 2pm now..what IS the proper time for wine and/or a nap?

(P.S. I did nothing during the month of April for autism awareness. I’m big on awareness but oh so over the tired arguing of awareness versus acceptance versus where the awareness comes from. This post is in lieu of awareness in April, as I strongly believe it should be a 24/7/365 kinda deal where everyone does it on their own level without fear of critique or recrimination from anyone else. Agreed?)

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First, let me say that having four square feet of countertops is not a reason to order takeout daily. Tempting, but don’t let it daunt you — with some patience, creativity and planning, you will find success in cooking even a four-course meal with dessert, without losing your sanity.

Okay, maybe the sanity bit was pushing it a little, but the rest is 100% legit.

As I shared in this blog entry, my kitchen is composed of a three-burner stove, a one-rack oven with the width of 13″, and a mini-fridge/freezer combo, attached to a double-sink with counter space big enough for the Keurig, a paper-towel holder and some dish-drying space to the left of the sink. Space is at a premium and we have no room for cute decorations or frivolous gadgets. At times, even more than one person in the cooking zone at the same time is avoided, and on a hot day, every vent in the RV is aimed towards whomever is brave enough to cook. With my husband’s new work schedule, it’s usually me!

If you’re hesitant to try to cook or bake any ‘real food’ in your tiny kitchen or RV, let me share a few tips that may help ease your decision and tip the scales in the favor of home-cooked food.

1. Rotation: this is critical. If I have more than three pots that need to go on the stove, I decide which one I can complete first, to be set aside while the others finish. Often, this is an item that is being sauteed to add to a sauce or final pot later. For example, last week’s chicken enchiladas included a pan-fried mixture of onions, green chili peppers and spices. I cooked that up first, set it off on a cooling rack (my fancy name for a hot pad holder on the sink’s cutting board insets) and I was able to move the chicken onto that burner. Plan ahead so you can determine if there is a possibility of downsizing one pot or pan, or if you can put something in the microwave instead of on the stove.
2. Buy only a few days’ worth of food at a time. This helps ensure nothing spoils and you have the freshest of ingredients while saving space.
3. Plan meals out of your pantry and refrigerator. This too helps ensure you save space and nothing is forgotten. (I currently have six..yes, six..bottles of vinegar in the back of the pantry, and two sesame oils. Who needs all this in when my pantry is this tiny? Yet, I can’t throw it away, what a waste!)
4. Spend some time seeking out one-pot meals or crockpot dishes.
5. Multi-task your oven. When it’s on, use it while it’s hot. Don’t just bake a casserole, but throw in a loaf of bread and maybe a shot of cookies to round it out. This heats up your oven less, keeping your kitchen cooler, and saves on the propane it takes to pre-heat.

One of my favorite foods is gnocchi. I love to bake the potatoes hours in advance, let them cool, and mash up the innards for a fantastic, cheesey and moist gnocchi dough that will amaze my family. Rolling out the dough takes a gargantuan amount of space to roll out…at least in comparison to the 4′ feet I have available..and then I boil them, and because my husband requests it, I pan fry them in browned butter. A lot of steps, and more than a couple of big pots, are required. It ends with me spreading dishes all over the RV kitchen table, moving aside my “office in a pile” so I can dole out helpings without stacking things on the counter and praying for no spills.

Not easy to do…so my challenge, which I’m putting out here as motivation, is to find a way to make an entire gnocchi meal..not skimping on the browned butter, caramelized onions or fresh parm, in my tiny space.  (It’s also to get creative enough and get back in the groove to make these gorgeous cupcakes my oldest daughter brought over on Mother’s Day. Aren’t they adorable?)

Do you have to cook in a tiny space? How do you do it, and what advice would you give someone else considering inhabiting a home — on wheels or in an apartment or an eco-house, or anything in-between — with a small kitchen?

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Hubby started his new job this week. Can you say YAY? He loves it. He’s gone a lot, but he loves it and he finally has the job he’s wanted (and deserved) for a long time.

Say it with me: Score!

I’ve gotten some social media consulting biz. Yes, another score!

I’ve visited the inside of more grocery stores in this one week alone than I’ve gone to in the last six months. Someone has to bring home the bacon. (Speaking of, tonight’s dinner is bacon meatball subs, as in meatballs made with bacon. I’m hungry already and I just finished my feta-veggie-crab wrap lunch.)

I spent some time at a local park with the kids and got goofy with the camera. Due to the impending loss of medical coverage, I had made two doctor’s appointments and one dentist appointment for The Little Dude. (That would be my youngest.) At the dentist, I got him through his ASD-related fears, only to find out we have to do a re-do next week; insurance will only pay for an exam and cleaning every six months, and we were a week too soon. For reals. At the neuro, we got the refill for his migraine preventative. But at today’s pediatrician visit? Ka-ching. Thank goodness new insurance kicks in on June 1st! Turns out that Little Dude’s chest tightness is likely exercise-induced asthma and the rings around his eyes are caused by allergies that interfere with his sleeping. Tonight, we go back to the pharmacy to pick up his inhaler, aerochamber and Flonase. Fun stuff!

Last night’s dinner was fantastic. I made an amazing tray of chicken enchiladas and a big pot of lime-cilantro rice. I made cream cheese-filled muffins and didn’t even eat any!

This whole process has been humbling and enlightening. Finding a telecommute position is clearly not easy, but with all the experience I have, and the fact I managed to do it successfully for almost 17 years, I’m confident it will all work out. Throughout the move, the job loss, and the job search process, I learned how much I enjoy work, and how I appreciate the career I’m in. I’ve learned what great family and friends I have and how glad I am to be back in California, even if I had a major change the minute I returned. I can’t wait to get into my new home so I can get back to work with my new cupcake clients. (My Viking stove is waiting for me in the storage. New, unused and shiny. I can’t wait to get it dirty!)

I’m not normally this introspective, but maybe because my life was rather consistent, or at least steady enough, it was where I didn’t get a chance to make change that turned out to be much-needed. I wouldn’t have said this a few weeks ago, but now? Definitely!

What changes have you made that turned out to be the best thing ever?

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Want to hear my list of top 10 benefits to eating healthy foods?

• 1. You can pronounce the ingredients.
• 2. You can read the ingredients of your foods in just a couple of seconds.
• 3. No mystery ingredients!
• 4. Your grocery bill will be cheaper.
• 5. You often lose weight.
• 6. Your body will be healthier.
• 7. You should feel better.
• 8. Grocery shopping is easier.
• 9. There is SO much variety.
• 10. You don’t have to cut out a certain category of food if you use moderation.

Some people refer to it as clean eating (though that typically involves removal of refined sugar, which I honestly don’t do 100% of the time), you may hear ‘whole foods,’ and others call it natural eating. I don’t care what you call it, but if your diet is primarily healthy foods, it means you aren’t any any/many processed foods, preservatives, dyes or anything else that wasn’t naturally made for your body. Unsure if it’s for you? Give it a try! With the plethora of recipes on the internet, or library books, it doesn’t require an expensive overhaul and a lot of knowledge — just some creativity, experimenting and a little time to stock your fridge and pantry initially.

And you can still eat cupcakes!!

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It got me thinking — I spend a lot of time daily reading through social media websites, learning as I go and trying to help others along the way, and I found some great things out there today. If you’re looking to grow your blog traffic or get followers in any social media channel, here are a few things you should read.

There are a lot of places that can give you comprehensive lists on how to get started but not everyone knows what to do next. This infographic, from blog.gremln.com, is brief but to the point. Check it out!

Need to know what all those numbers mean, and if you really need to worry about all those numbers? Read this, courtesy of SoCalLadyBloggers.

Worried about your Google page rank…or you don’t know what page rank is and therefore need to know how to get your traffic up without worrying about it? This article, from Oscarmini.com, is gold.

Time management not your friend? Bidsketch.com has some awesome suggestions every blogger, novice or pro, needs to read.
In everything, use social media for good! Remember, we’re all on our own path…in life and in social media. You don’t know where someone else is or how they got there or even where they want to go next, so in all things, be kind. Follow the tips in that infographic in my first link and you’ll get the gist. If you are worried you come off as obnoxious or pushy or rude, you probably are, so re-think. If you’re concerned about spamming or think you need to do more, you should follow your gut instinct. If you stop spending time on things like traffic, stats and interaction — with everyone, not just those that you want to coax into following you — you will see a difference. Avoid the frustration and be mindful in all things. Social media for good!

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I don’t.  No excuses, no good reasons, I just don’t.
I’ve heard a lot of discussion about what is truly a safe amount of water to drink. It used to be said that you should drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day, and if you’re trying to lose weight, extra water can help you eat less. Now there are rumblings that you really don’t need that much water, while others just say “Drink when you’re thirsty and don’t worry about the rest.” And then there are others who say that by the time you are thirsty, you are already dehydrated. This article contains some very interesting info, and this one does too.

What are your thoughts?

I am not a doctor nor any type of medical professional, so I tend to fall more into the “drink when you’re thirsty” camp, but when I’m exercising more regularly, something I still haven’t been doing since the move, I do try to replenish and curb the thirst. If I’m not working out, I am probably hovering around four cups of water per day, which in my book, is too little, a fact I am aware of but really don’t try hard enough to rectify. It’s something I’m now working on as it’s not like I don’t have enough time!
Being a natural-living family, we try to limit the amount of consumables in throwaway packaging, including water bottles. We also try to avoid unhealthy BPA , so while we do keep water bottles on hand, the goal is to use as little as possible of it. For me, this makes it easier for me to get my water via other methods. My favorite? Water infused with natural flavors. Very easy to make and even easier to drink.

Living in the RV right now means that my refrigerator space is at a premium. Typical water pitchers don’t fit anywhere but the milk gallon slot, and though I don’t drink cow juice, we do keep low-fat on hand as my husband enjoys it with granola. I was able to find a miniature pitcher made for the inside rack in a refrigerator door at Target, and using the infusion ball I found at Amazon, refreshing water is never far away.
Making infused water is just as easy as you’re imagining, so easy I don’t need to explain, but I will say that my recent favorite is five or six peeled round slices of cucumber, ¼ of a lime sliced in numerous wedges and lightly smushed before you put it into the ball, and fresh ground ginger. I love a lot of ginger, so amount of that, or any of your ingredients, really is up to you. Last week, I was using Cuties in the infuser, along with the ginger still. I’ve put smushed grapes in the ball, lemon slices, and dried herbs/flowers, all depending on what type of flavor profile you’re going for. I even put cayenne pepper in it once – tasty, and reportedly good for your metabolism, but the kids didn’t like it so since we have to share from one pitcher right now, I have since left it out.

Studies show that ginger can be helpful for many reasons. Read a recent list here!

My goal is to get back to drinking sufficient water daily, so not only are my kidneys flushed appropriately but I retain less water due to salt. (I know, it sounds weird but water does indeed flush out retained water.)  I also like that it encourages my kids to drink more water instead of any sugary drinks they still like but I limit.

So I’m going to attempt to have a big cup of infused water on my desk all day long, every day, getting at least six or so cups a day. Are you up for the challenge too?

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Some people knock bulk-buying. I understand that some people over-buy but with discipline and a list, the average family can save a lot, so if you’re an over-buyer, that’s a ‘you’ problem, not a warehouse store problem! There, I said it out loud! (Money management tip #1: take responsibility for your spending. It really is all in your hands.)

We visited CostCo a few days ago with the intention of buying bacon, eggs, milk, cheese..the typical items we use consistently in our household. Going by unit price, we definitely save over buying these items in the local grocery store, and they don’t expire, go bad, or go to waste. CostCo does a fantastic job of offering things weekly that aren’t easily found elsewhere either, so shopping there for affordable meals for the family, along with some snacks, wardrobe items or just a quick lunch, is super-easy. (The entire meal’s worth of samples we get by the time we’ve left the store is a pretty sweet deal, too.)

This particular time, we added a few things to the list: beer, as their per-case price beats the local Total Wine, fresh broccoli (can’t be beat in the local produce section) and unique entrees to speed up dinner cooking without adding in preservatives and high-fructose corn syrup. My favorite was the chicken-mozzarella ravioli, on sale for $7.99 for two sections. Add in some batteries, a case of Kirkland’s Pacific Bold k-cups ($37.99 for 100 – and you Keurig fans know what a deal that is!) and some taquitos, and we headed for the checkout, dollars ahead of where we’d have been if we shopped elsewhere and knocking it out in one trip. Saved on the gas, too!

Today, we headed to the DMV bright and early, to get our driver’s licenses. Early as in 7:10 appointments. AM. AM, people..and I am not a “top of the morning, to you” kind of person, face-to-face, until I’ve had at least two cups of coffee. Drinking caffeine, then waiting in line at the DMV, or anywhere that people start lining up hours prior, is not pretty, so I plastered on my “I’m going to finally be a full California resident and have all this paperwork baloney behind me” face and got in the car, one-half of a cup of coffee later. Bah.

Then we ran a few errands, such as returning some prior work equipment, mailing back South Carolina license plates, and purchasing everying on a small-ish Target list. (Keyword: ish. That always leaves room for a few items you’ve had on a “when they go on sale” list in your head.) I will say, Target’s sales this week helped us fill some wardrobe gaps caused by packing everything you own in a 53′ trailer and then having it inaccessible for weeks on end. True to my word though, everything I bought was on sale, other than some shampoo and two toothbrushes.

After all that, I came home, did some bloggy affiliate work, and before I knew it, it was 6pm and there was no smell, or sound, of dinner in the kitchen. Heads were starting to turn as they looked around, then at each other, with that “I’m hungry. Are you? Why isn’t mom cooking?” look.

Sigh.

Now, remember, we’re temporarily living in the RV, aka small house on wheels. (I keep saying “We only have 400 sq. ft. to live in, guys, keep it neat” only to hear my husband remind me every.single.time “You’re lucky if it’s 200 sq. ft., you know that, right?”) It’s super-tight when you’re trying to cook and have three or four pots to go on the three-burner stove and two pans for the one-rack oven and nowhere to put hot things, and serving on plastic plates? <shudder> It’s even a bigger nightmare for a baker like me, but I digress…it’s not like I can even get to my Food Network servingware or build an additional countertop. I feel like I need to make this disclaimer before every food story, as my photos aren’t full of pretty and we’re eating on dollarware. Bear with me. (This has nothing to do with the lack-of-job situation and everything to do with the fact we couldn’t travel with glass plates and now they are inaccessible in our 53′ storage trailer, and I refuse to buy more for the interim.)

Out came the <fake…don’t judge> crab meat that was on sale at Ralph’s last week, two for $5.00. My mind was on crab cakes, the spicy, easy, ‘don’t fall apart on the griddle’ kind of crab cakes that are harder than they ought to be. I just have to say: SCORE. Recipe to follow.

As a side, I made kale chips, recipe courtesy of my oldest, a kale chip fanatic. (Clean them thoroughly, strip out the thick internal stems, tear in big-ish pieces. Yes, ‘ish’ again. Drizzle on some quality olive oil, sprinkle on salt, pepper and parmesan cheese, and bake for 5-6 minutes at 425 or so. Turn and do another 4-5 minutes, depending on your oven and requirements for crispiness. They also will continue to crisp as they sit on the tray after, cooling.)

I also took some jalapeno-cheese rolls from Sprout’s and cut two of them in half. (I paid $2.99 a few days ago for a four-pack, and they will last for two meals.) Then, I roasted a pound or so of asparagus at 425 for about 15 minutes, also drizzled in olive oil, salt and pepper. (I prefer kosher or sea salt, but I couldn’t find either.)

All together, quite the meal for a day where I didn’t have a lot of time, and everyone loved it!

Now, for the recipe….

Crab Cakes

Two packages crab meat (yes, I used fake)

½ cup chipotle-seasoned bread crumbs

1/3 cup mayonnaise

2 tbsp mustard

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 egg

3 scallions cut in tiny pieces

salt and pepper to taste

cayenne pepper

Mix everything together. Make them into patties, roll lightly in flour and fry them in quality oil. (I used canola.) I cooked them about 7-8 minutes on each side until they were browned.

Keep in mind, we are a large family, so CostCo has always been a way for us to cut back on toilet paper, bottled water (when we bought it) and milk costs. We also use CostCo for our cellphone and electronic purchases, as their concierge service is wonderful and many, many things have a double warranty, which comes in handy when you drop $1000 on a flat-screen TV or need a new laptop. (Or when you kill your printer and have to buy a new one; I found a $200 printer on sale for $149 there, and I love it.)

With diligence and planning, bulk-buying can save money. Just be sure you have reliable refrigerator and storage space…and some patience, those lines can get long enough to grab a piece of $1.49 pizza and eat it before you check out!

The post Buying in bulk saves money? Sure thing! appeared first on Dangerous Cupcake Designs.

With so many people out of work, and prices not compensurate with the income of many who are working, saving money on food costs has become even more important.

Add in the shortage of certain foods due to weather catastrophes, causing the prices to rise, and you have the perfect storm for motivation to look anywhere possible for ways to stretch your grocery budget.

Now that I’m not working full-time, I have decided this is a priority. I wish I could say that it had always been important, but I know finding ways to save money – coupons, phone apps, store cards – can take more time out of an already busy day, and I just never did it on a big scale. Sure, if a manufacturer sent me a coupon or a rewards card gave me a freebie, I would definitely use it. But to seek it out with the goal of saving 20% off of our current food costs? Hard core!

So how am I going to do this?

Even though our financial situation has changed, it doesn’t mean our family’s needs have. My kids still need summer clothes, shoes, toothpaste, you get my point. We are determined to have the impact of the recent changes affect them as little as possible. When you have kids who want to play sports, go on field trips, visit amusement parks, shop, you know, all those ‘normal’ kid things, you have to get creative. Today, I’ll start a series on how I save money on food costs, with the first segment being about using technology.

Last week, I realized that neither my younger daughter nor I had packed sufficient summer shoewear within reach. After a smack to my forehead for missing the obvious (I moved to California right before summer. I know. You can say it.) I decided we couldn’t go any longer wearing the same pair of flip-flops. I checked out weekly ads and local shoe store sales, then headed for Kohl’s. Not only did they have a sale, but we have a Kohl’s charge account, and when you use that on purchases, you frequently get a percentage off on your total purchase at the register. When we walked in the door..literally, the sign is on the door..we learned about their in-store free wifi. When you sign into it, you then have the option of receiving discounts. Thirty minutes later, we left, with a bag containing one black cami (on sale for $5.99), and four pairs of sandals. Grand total? $21.56. Score!

We were hungry and my husband had called with another errand while we were out, so we tried to choose an affordable lunch option. Looking around, we saw Juice It Up. Providence! We had been talking about how it had been over three years since we’d had JIU, and that we’d missed a good fruit smoothie. Before I went in, as my daughter did the “huh?” look while I insisted on waiting so we could see if there was any program that could clip our costs, I scouted out the JIU site and learned there is indeed a rewards program. I signed up quickly, on my phone, and headed indoors. I was bummed that after two attempts, I still haven’t received my password to join, but you may have better luck. The website states you get a “welcome to the club” gift, and birthday rewards and if you like Juice It Up, may be something to check out! Could have been a score for me, if it had worked!

Then I headed to CVS to pick up prescriptions. I checked out the prices on a few items we needed that were better priced than at Target next door, and used a coupon in my purse from a prior purchase. (CVS coupons aren’t tree-friendly, as a receipt frequently ends up being feet long, but they are good deals if you keep them and remember what categories they cover. Something to keep in mind is that they are not transferable, so when my husband got a good one but I was the one to stop by to use it, it wouldn’t allow me to apply it as it was on his card. Keep that in mind if you have different numbers. Luckily, I had coupons from both of our cards in my purse.) Another score!

Our last stop was Ralphs. I’m new to grocery shopping here in California – my husband has always done it, but for obvious reasons, I have some time on my hands. When we lived here prior, he had taken on the task as shopping with my youngest’s special needs was very difficult.  Now it’s my turn to learn prices, compare and put together more than just a list of random items that I present to him on Sundays, so I took a deep breath and headed in. Who knew, I love Ralphs?  We used to see it as a more expensive grocery store but after returning from South Carolina, the prices seem downright cheap, and certainly no more expensive than Stater Bros. Still, I wanted to do better. Queue the Ralphs Android app. I quickly linked my member card to the online site and was virtually clipping coupons to be assigned to my card; I was also able to view the sales while I shopped, adding things to my list so I could make sure we grabbed them. In the end, I added more to my cart than was on the list, but it was still a very judicious shopping trip that netted us a lot of quality items for good prices. We don’t want money to change our healthy living lifestyle, so this was another score!

Small steps, but ones that made me realize how much easier it is to save money than I’d presumed. Gone are the days of having to buy lots of papers and clip coupons from mailers. Sure, those still work, but now saving money is more automated, like free money for the taking! I’ve had some more “Score!” moments since then, but I’ll highlight those in another entry. My new way of life? “I’m sure we can get that for cheaper!” without reducing quality. I’ll update as I go along!

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So that’s what we are, and here’s where we’re doing it.

Now that we’ve finished the fun process of registering your vehicle in California, our house-on-wheels can be permanently set up. And by permanently, I mean just a few months, while we get reconfigured and into a house. At least we’re all sporting California plates now!

The RV’s refrigerator was fixed last night so that it no longer freezes everything inside. I know, how can there have been so many problems with it? It is only a few years old and had been in an RV carport the last three years, used here and there for a variety of camping trips, the last being at Jellystone Park in North Carolina, before it was winterized and locked-up tight for the season. We never had any leaking or freezing. While it would have been nice to fix it prior to our cross-country adventure, we found an excellent mobile RV repair company who is much more affordable than any repair work we ever had done in South Carolina. (Word for the wise: the south is not nearly the affordable place to live people think. Wages are much lower yet everything else costs more than California, especially food and services. All four of our vehicles were registered and tagged here in Cali for less than the property taxes on them in SC, not including the bi-yearly registration fees. While we’re going to pay hefty home property taxes on our next house here, and our gas is somewhat higher..only $.30 per gallon, which is not the hike it sounds like..the rest is easier on the budget, and I’ll be blogging more about that later.)

I’ve been asked a lot: “How do you plan on living in that for too long?”

My answer? Staying organized! That includes the pantry and the kitchen. We packed our Kitchenaid stand mixer, the Keurig, the Le Creuset Dutch oven, the Vitamix and my Cuisinart stainless steel. I even snuck in a very heavy cast iron fry pan. We are determined to not let this get in the way of eating healthy. Re-stocking with such little space is interesting, but we’re making it work. I’ll be sharing along the way as I get back to regular menus and begin baking. I already have two cupcake clients lined up and a “please make” list from the family.

Foodies living in an RV means getting creative in how to store our fancy oils, vinegars and spices. Special racks for the pans. And my cookbooks? They had to get packed, so we’re online recipes all the way right now. (If you want to send me a new cookbook to review though, I’d love you forever. I am feeling deprived!) We do have a food truck-fest coming in two weeks, a day we’re excited about. I plan on taking a lot of awesome photos in the gorgeous California sun, and I may even include one of myself, the new Californian!

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