Take It Outside For Spring Break

March 30, 2011 By Big Binder Leave a Comment

Tonight A.P. played on the last remaining ‘snow mountain’ in our church parking lot.  It might be the last time he touches snow until next winter. I love re-visiting places we’ve been in the past season to see what’s changed, so I’m excited to head out to the Calvin EcoPreserve First Saturday Program again this Saturday, April 2 at 10:00 AM. It’s free!

Later that day, head over to Blandford Nature Center from 2-3 PM  for “Michigan – Mittenful of Riches”.  Blandford founding director, Dr. Mary Jane Dockeray will present a program that explores the many natural wonders our state has to offer. For all ages. $3.00 per person.

Or, you could just head out to a park and explore. Want some ideas? Check out this Spring Activity Guide. If it’s a little early for you to be stomping around in the woods, take a walking tour of Grand Rapids.  Check in with a smartphone along the way and learn about different downtown locations.

This is part two in my Spring Break series.  Part one was all about eating frugally, and the final part will be about cultural events. The calendar is filling up very nicely with plenty of free and frugal fun, so check that out too!

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Filed Under: Enjoy, Things to do Thursday

Don’t Go Broke Over Spring Break!

March 29, 2011 By Big Binder 3 Comments

Are you sticking around Grand Rapids for Spring Break? I can rock a staycation like nobody’s business.  I have lots of information coming in the next few days, so sit back, relax, and please enjoy your flight. Wait; you’re not going anywhere.  You’re staying RIGHT HERE.  Where it is AWESOME. And there are VERY FEW NATURAL DISASTERS.  Or BEDBUGS.

I have added some Spring Break events to my new Calendar, which is totally growing on me.

I’ll have posts coming shortly with ways to play, learn, and eat (is there anything else?) for less.

Let’s start with food, because I like food.

  • Pietros Backdoor Pizzeria has Build Your Own Pizza Night (we did that a long time ago!) from Sunday through Wednesday.  It’s fun, and a great deal at $1.99.
  • If you are downtown and want an inexpensive but fantastic lunch that totally accommodates kids, check out Art & Bev on GRCC’s campus.  Environmental bonus points for eating there because they recycle everything.

You could also pretend you are on a road trip and eat at chain restaurants three times a day, for the full vacation experience.  Some of them have Kids eat free deals; call ahead to the specific location for details.

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Filed Under: Eat, Tasty Tuesday

Recipe Roundtable – Family Fondue Night

March 27, 2011 By Big Binder 9 Comments

I remember fondue from my childhood.  Sizzling pots of oil with plates of raw meat; tangy cheese with crusty bread – and children armed with pointy utensils.  It was awesome.

But, now we have things like bike helmets and antibacterial soap.  It is no longer acceptable to let children handle uncooked steak with sharp objects and then cook it in boiling oil.  I toned it down a bit by leaving out the Emmenthal cheese and replacing the raw meat with strawberries for our Family Fondue Night.  I refused to leave out the fondue forks though.  Some things are just sacred.

I made up these recipes, but I can attest to their deliciousness.  I was in the fondue mood (is there a fondue mood?!) because this Thursday, March 31 I am going to Ladies Night Out at the Melting Pot! I am almost 100% certain that no one there will ask if we can “dip hot dogs in the cheese one because that would be soooo good”. There will, however, be martinis.  And door prizes, and a three course meal I don’t have to cook or clean up.

FAMILY FRIENDLY FONDUE NIGHT

Cheese Fondue

Mix cheeses in saucepan and melt slowly over low heat.  Add dip mix and blend well.  Keeping the heat low, add the milk.  Do not let the milk boil.  It should be smooth and creamy; if necessary add more milk.  Transfer to a fondue pot.

Chocolate Fondue

Melt the chocolate chips very slowly over very low heat.  Once it is melted and smooth, add the sweetened condensed milk and Dulce De Leche.  Mix until heated and incorporated.  Transfer to a fondue pot.

For Dipping – Cheese

  • Beer bread, cut into cubes
  • Cooked shrimp or other meat (preferably not hot dogs)

For Dipping – Chocolate

  • Cut up bananas
  • Cut up strawberries
  • Pound cake, cut into cubes
  • Marshmallows

Do you fondue? What else do you do? I want to hear from you! Leave a comment, or if you have a blog, link up below!   This weekly feature is co-hosted Big Binder and Sarah’s Deals. Each blog will host it’s own recipe, but share a common linky. The co-hostesses links will appear at the top of the list and you are welcome to join in.

Please link to your ACTUAL POST and not just your home page so people can find it easier. Also please put the recipe title in parentheses to help out the other readers. Old recipe posts are fine. While we appreciate a link back or the addition of the button above, it is NOT required. Thank you for participating!

Don’t miss anything! Subscribe to my RSS feed, get Big Binder by email, follow me on twitter, or become a fan on Facebook.

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Filed Under: Eat, Recipe Roundtable

Free, Frugal and Fun in Grand Rapids – With Kids!

March 24, 2011 By Big Binder Leave a Comment

Hey there! Did you notice? I’ve had a little work done.  HUGE thanks to Creative Kristi for this awesome blog overhaul!

But like an impatient patient; I lifted up the bandages too early and messed a few things up.  The next couple of posts may have a little bit of a funny look to them until I get used to what’s new :)

What’s not new is that there is a ton of fun to be had this week! I am trying something different.  I’ve added an event calendar; with great hesitation.  I don’t like the look of a lot of event calendars because they are cluttered and give me a headache.  If I can keep this looking tidy, it will become a permanent fixture.  Please let me know if it works (or doesn’t work) for you!

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Filed Under: Enjoy, Things to do Thursday

Managing Family Finances Is Easier When There Aren’t Any

March 23, 2011 By Big Binder 5 Comments

Thank you to TurboTax for sponsoring my writing about household finances.Learn more about how TurboTax can help you find every tax deduction you deserve. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

I wish we could afford for me to stay home with my kids, but I have to work..

Seven years ago, my husband and I agreed that I should stay home with A.P. when he was born.   I was the primary wage earner  and there was no way we’d make it on my husband’s income for long.  I would stay home for a year, then go back to work.

That was the plan.

Then A.P. turned one, and there was no way I could leave my sweet little boy with someone else.  I halfheartedly tried to look for a  job, and wholeheartedly tried to get pregnant.

Three months later, I was still happily without a job, and happily with child.

When Maybelle was born, we decided to wait until she was a year old and then I would go back to work.  At that time, my husband realized there was no way he was going to ship his sweet little daughter off to be cared for by someone else.  I tried working a seasonal job for a few years, but what works best for our family is for me to be at home.

I  hear that comment often; the one about ‘wishing we could make it on one income“.  So when our temporary plan turned into our lifestyle, how did we do it?  When my husband was laid off – twice – how did we make it?

We have come to realize something very unexpected, but important.

Everything we have had to deny ourselves comes with a positive result.

I spend a lot of time meal planning around grocery sales.  I love to cook, and I am not afraid to try new recipes.  However, my family is sometimes a little afraid to eat them (but they do).  As a result, we do not have picky eaters.

We go out to eat for the experience; not because no one feels like making dinner.  It comes out of our small entertainment budget and always involves a coupon.  As a result, we are fairly easily entertained.  Going to an Ethiopian Restaurant is a big night out for us.

We don’t have a huge amount to spend on fun, but we find ways to do it frugally; especially during hockey season.  I know every way possible of getting inexpensive hockey tickets. As a result, we have a fun family activity we love to do together.

We are lower-middle income, according to statistics. It’s just enough to get by with a tiny bit of wiggle room.  As a result, there isn’t much to argue about.

It has made us confident parents.  We didn’t honestly want kids right away, but that’s what happened.  What we wanted right away was a  Nissan Altima.  We still look at them longingly. We gave up a lot for those little stinkers, and as a result, the parental plague of guilt doesn’t come around to visit us often.

We can’t afford a lot of camps or classes for our kids, but as a result we discovered that there is plenty of frugal fun in Grand Rapids and it that it doesn’t cost a lot to provide a great childhood!

It has made us thankful for what we do have – but also what we don’t have.  We are reliant on each other in a way that we wouldn’t be had our income been bigger.

What about you? What have you given up, only to find that the end result was better than what you had in the first place?

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Filed Under: Budget Boosters, Save

Recipe Roundtable – Banana Nutella Crêpes

March 20, 2011 By Big Binder 4 Comments

A few months ago, my friend Wendy came over for lunch.  Having people over for lunch is fun.  Having people who write food blogs over for lunch? A smidge intimidating.  Fortunately, Maybelle was in charge of desert.  She whipped up some Banana Nutella Crêpes with Whipped Cream and chopped nuts.

Yep. She’s five.

I first had Nutella when I was in Germany a long time ago.  It took about 20 years, but the US finally caught on to the amazing things chocolate and hazelnuts can do when they work together. American children today don’t know how good they have it.  They will never know what a record player is, or that phones once had cords, or what childhood is like without Nutella.

Maybelle had another chance to share her beloved Nutella; this time with her BFF’s.  They go waaaay back. Like, all the way to preschool.  We had quite the spread to celebrate, well, the spread.

Crazy Made Up Iced Tea

This was the menu:

  • Mini croissants
  • Sliced strawberries
  • Bananas
  • Strawberry jam
  • Some crazy iced tea I decided to make at the last minute
  • Blueberry muffins that I was still mixing when my guests got there.  And then baked in festive, Christmas cupcake paper liners ’cause that’s all I had.
  • Vegetarian Kim’s Potato Quiche (it was on Friday, so no meat for us…)
  • Orange juice

I am happy that we introduced people to Nutella.  I am totally counting that as my good deed for the day.  There was even a fairly detailed investigation of Nutella vs. peanut butter.  Definitely Nutella, FTW!

We did not have Banana Nutella Crêpes at our party, but they are really pretty easy and I know you want the recipe, so here it is:

Banana Nutella Crêpes a la Maybelle

  • Basic Crêpes (you can buy them pre-made, but they are actually really easy to make.)
  • Nutella
  • sliced bananas
  • Reddi Wip (seriously, I promise it is better)
  • Crushed nuts

Spread Nutella on a crêpe.  Place sliced bananas on the Nutella.  Cover with Reddi Wip. Attempt to close the crêpe which is now too full.  Just put more Reddi Wip on it, and sprinkle some crushed nuts on top. All done!

What’s the best food or recipe you have ever introduced to your friends? Leave a comment, or if you have a blog, link up below!   This weekly feature is co-hosted Big Binder and Sarah’s Deals. Each blog will host it’s own recipe, but share a common linky. The co-hostesses links will appear at the top of the list and you are welcome to join in.

Please link to your ACTUAL POST and not just your home page so people can find it easier. Also please put the recipe title in parentheses to help out the other readers. Old recipe posts are fine. While we appreciate a link back or the addition of the button above, it is NOT required. Thank you for participating!

I received a party package, which also included favors for my guests.  All opinions are my own.

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Filed Under: Eat, Recipe Roundtable

Girl Scout Cookies On Demand

March 18, 2011 By Big Binder Leave a Comment

When I was in first grade, I signed up for Brownies.  My troop leader had us over once a week, where we would sit around and eat Oreos.   Seriously; that’s all we did. After a few months of this, my Mom decided she had had it.

She filled out some forms, and we marched downtown to Dancers Fashions where they sold all of the scouting handbooks and badges and whatnot; and Troop 93 was born.

Troop 93 rocked.  We did service projects, and went to camp, and had little Brownie jack-knives.  My Mom was an awesome leader and the only cookies we ate were at Girl Scout Cookie Time.

It is Girl Scout Cookie Time now.  But unlike the pre-internet days of my youth, people want what that want, and they want it now.  So the smart people at Girl Scouts have come up with a way for you to get Girl Scout Cookies when you need them.  I can see this being especially useful when you have placed an order with your favorite little Girl Scout, but simply cannot wait for the boxes of deliciousness to arrive.

Let me introduce you to my good friend, the Cookie Locator.  Type in your zip code (go ahead, try it!) and it will tell you the location of the nearest Girl Scout Cookie Booth.  I think they should have called it the Cookie-Matic 2000, but you know what? No one asked me.

I am OK with that.  The important thing is that you know this weekend kicks off Cookie Sales with sales outside of businesses Saturday, March 19 and Sunday, March 20.    Forget about March Madness – with the Cookie-Matic 2000 Cookie Locator you have all the excitement you need.

I was, in fact, given Girl Scout cookies to nourish and inspire the writing of this post.  All opinions are my own.

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Filed Under: Explore, PSA

Things To Do

March 16, 2011 By Big Binder Leave a Comment

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Will you be making the traditional Corned Beef? Here is a list of fun activities I rounded up for the kids if you are one of those crafty people.

Beyond St. Patrick’s Day there is a ton of fun around town, as usual! Here are my picks:

PLAY March 17 Flick’s Family Film Fest starts! YAY! This week’s movie is ” Nanny McPhee Returns”. $3.50 for adults, FREE for kids.

PLAY March 19 LaughFest continues with a family day.  Visit Meijer stores for a voucher worth $3 off a family four pack of tickets!  Varies.

PLAY March 19 7th Annual Camp & Summer Adventure Expo.  Breton Village Mall.  Come and learn about camps for the summer.  There is always good swag at this one and my kids are experts at working the tables. Free.

LEARN March 19 12:00-4:00 Blandford’s Sugarbush continues. $3.00 per person. We love Sugarbush!

LISTEN March 19 10:15 and 11:30 DeVos Performance Hall.  Grand Rapids Symphony Aesop’s Fables. $5.00.

WATCH March 19 2:00 PM Grand Rapids Civic Theatre.  “The Stinky Cheese Man”. Free.

EAT and GIVE March 21 Free Pancake Day.  Perkins Restaurants. Get a stack of pancakes free with a donation to “Give The Kids The World”.  Free with donation.

LEARN March 21 4:00 PM Arthur Author Marc Brown is in town! Listen to him talk a the main branch of the Grand Rapids Public Library. I LOVE THIS GUY!  Free.

LEARN and PLAY March 22 6:00 – 7:00 PM Parent Information Meeting from Bright Beginnings.  “The Power of Play”  West Oakview Elementary.  Free childcare provided.  Pre-register with Denise 293-8458. Free.

LISTEN March 25 10:30 AM Spring Has Sprung Storytime with Clifford.  Barnes and Noble, Woodland. Free.

LEARN March 26 Day of Learning at the East Grand Rapids Kent District Library, presented by the Great Start Parent Coalition.  Free.

GIVE The Great Start Parent Coalition Diaper Drive has begun! Start looking for collection boxes around town and help them reach their goal of collecting 40,000 diapers! I have started writing a weekly ‘diaper deal’ for the Parent Coalition with the best bargain around town I can find.  Click on the ‘Keep ‘em Covered’ picture on the right side of Big Binder’s home page for a direct link to the deal!

Coming soon:  the ultimate Spring Break guide!

Have you entered my giveaway this week for RiceSelect Texmati Rice? Don’t miss anything! Subscribe to my RSS feed, get Big Binder by email, follow me on twitter, or become a fan on Facebook.

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Filed Under: Enjoy, Things to do Thursday

Tasty Tuesday – Little Africa

March 15, 2011 By Big Binder Leave a Comment

Little Africa on UrbanspoonOur Tasty Tuesday adventure took us to Little Africa this week. It wasn’t the first time we had been there, but it was so long ago my kids had forgotten all about it. We took Mr. Binder this time, under completely sneaky pretenses. I told him we were using a Restaurant.com coupon and going out to eat. Yay!

Here is what I did not tell him: 1) It was African food which meant that there was 2) no beer and also, by the way 3) no meat. I am totally not above lying to expand my family’s horizons.

HUGE props to this I’ll-have-a-burger-and-a-pint man.  He won the Best Sport award when he dove into the family platter and tried lentils prepared 3 different ways.  He and Maybelle shared a love for the green lentil dish, on the grounds that it “sort of tastes like tacos”.  A.P. didn’t like the injera bread this time, and since that is the main vehicle for getting the food into your mouth (There are no utensils – only bread and finger bowls), he was out of luck.  Still, there was a carrot salad that he chowed on.

Remember the Ginger Tea we had at Chez Olga? We tried a pot at Little Africa too.  I hope this doesn’t make us the weirdest family ever (actually, I don’t care) but we loved this tea.  All four of us were completely smitten with it.

I started thinking about mixed tapes.  You whippersnappers who have only had MP3 playlists will laugh at me like I’m singing the praises of Eight Tracks, but there was something magic about mixed tapes.  One little connection to another song, like both bands having the same influences, and you had your transition to the next song. The teas were different, but with similar influences.  Which makes sense, really.  Haiti has a pretty heavy African history.  If they had been songs instead of pots of tea, I would have put them right next to each other on my mixed tape.

We were surprisingly stuffed after this meal.  Maybe the bread is really filling – or maybe it was the tea.  There was one dish we ate every last drop of, and it was made from chick pea flour.  It tasted a little like falafel; which made me think of how close Africa is to the Middle East, which brought me, figuratively, to my next song.  Be on the lookout for a Middle Eastern Tasty Tuesday soon :)
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Filed Under: Eat, Tasty Tuesday

Recipe Roundtable – Chicken Cheddar Rice Bake AND A GIVEAWAY!

March 13, 2011 By Big Binder 2 Comments

Remember when I made Brined Chicken? We had so much left over I was able to freeze enough for another meal!  This time I found a recipe on the RiceSelect site and made:

Chicken Cheddar Rice Bake

  • 1/4 cups butter
  • 1/4 cups flour
  • 3 cubes chicken bouillon, crumbled
  • 2 cups milk
  • 3 cups cooked chicken, cubed
  • 1/2 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced (I left these out but randomly threw in some fresh green beans who were just hanging out in the ‘fridge)
  • 3 cups cooked Texmati Rice
  • 1 cup Cheddar cheese, grated

Melt butter in medium saucepan. Blend in flour and chicken bouillon cubes. Gradually stir in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat.

Stir in chicken and mushrooms (or, whatever).

Spread cooked Texmati Rice in buttered 9 x 13 inch baking dish; spoon chicken mixture over rice. Sprinkle with cheese.

Bake, covered at 350 degrees F. for 30 minutes or until casserole is hot and bubbly.

Would you like to try RiceSelect? Good!

I’m giving away a container of RiceSelect’s Texmati White Rice!

Just fill out the form below.  I’ll choose the winner using Random.org on Friday and be in touch via email.  Good luck!

This giveaway is now closed.

Do you have a great recipe to share? Link up! This weekly feature is co-hosted by http://www.thebigbinder.com/ and http://www.sarahsdeals.net/. Each blog will host it’s own recipe, but share a common linky. The co-hostesses links will appear at the top of the list and you are welcome to join in.

Please link to your ACTUAL POST and not just your home page so people can find it easier. Also please put the recipe title in parentheses to help out the other readers. Old recipe posts are fine. While we appreciate a link back or the addition of the button above, it is NOT required. Thank you for participating.

Don’t miss anything! Subscribe to my RSS feed, get Big Binder by email, follow me on twitter, or become a fan on Facebook.

I received product samples for review.  All opinions are my own.
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