As women, we read over and over about how we need to add some sort of workout with weights into our routine to keep our bones strong and vibrant as we age.

Who has time for that?

Our family has committed to get into great physical health and shape this year. Our goal is to work with the seasons, trying new routines and exercises all year long.

February brought weights into the picture! We purchased two 5 lb weights after church yesterday. Dave went online and found an easy routine for Emily (my 15 year old daughter) and I to try, beginning with a 2-3 minute workout for the arms. We started this morning, after doing our normal stretching and breathing Oxycise routine, and we feel FANTASTIC!

Join us in a simple, BEGINNER weight routine! It feels great!

Will be adding to this post as the day goes on, so check back for more information!

Hey everyone – looks like we are preparing for ROUND TWO, what might be The Great Winter Storm of 2010!!!

So, just wanted to repost what we are doing over at Chez Baughn, http://www.theprudentwife.com/blog/?p=385 (and yes, my dear hubby made it home from the last storm and our truck survived 24 hours on the icy side of the mountain in I-26, with nary a scratch. We are still praising the Lord!) 

We have done more this time, including refill the propane in the grill, grab some propane containers ( we have camping stuff that uses propane) and we boiled eggs and are cooking a big roast for “cold leftovers.”

We have been eating out of the freezer all week to work through our supply of frozen meats and decided against cooking a turkey Sat, as that will act as a giant ice cube if we lose power. We have a few ice chests ready, in case something happens and papers printed that tell us how to properly store meat (those links are on my first blog post). We had several friends lose the contents of their regular fridges and their spare freezers in the last storm. Hard thing – we work so hard to FILL them with our bargains, summer veggies, etc and then to lose them!

If I could say one thing – FILL YOUR CARS WITH GAS, and CHARGE YOUR CELL PHONES before you get on the road! Pack blankets, water, food, extra shoes, hats, etc – as this one looks like it will hit around 5pm (the drive time home for many! 

Hope this helps someone! Praying you are ALL SAFE!

Love those little cookbooks they have in the check out line at grocery stores? Here is a free Betty Crocker Cookbook on Soups and Stews - some of their all time favorites! Enjoy it!

Gluten free baking can be a serious challenge to meld everything into the delicious flavor and texture you crave. When a friend of mine announced her upcoming wedding, to man who cannot handle gluten, I told her we would make the cake, or rather the CUPCAKES, for her wedding! So the challenge was on, how to create gluten free cupcakes, preferably from a GF mix, that everyone would want to eat.

The next day, I was blessed to find 8 gluten free cake mixes at 75% off, so the adventure begins. So when a craving for peanut butter cupcakes struck, we headed to the kitchen to see what we could create! Our first attempt, this Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cupcake was moist, flavorful and definitely a hit!

• 1 Namaste Foods Gluten Free Vanilla Cake Mix
• 4 eggs (free range, Omega 3)
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• a few DROPS of maple extract - use extreme caution - maple is VERY flavorful and can quickly overtake it!
• 1 1/2 cups peanuts

Heat oven to 350. Put cupcake liners in cupcake pan, spray lightly with non-stick spray.

In food processor, fitted with the metal chopping blade, dump the GF vanilla cake mix, eggs, oil, milk, sour cream, vanilla and the teeny, itty, bitty bit of maple!  Blend well. Taste, adjust vanilla and maple extracts if you need them - don’t be afraid to taste it and tweak it!

Since I had very little of my favorite Trader Joe’s Peanut Butter left, but had a ton of regular peanuts, we experimented with the peanuts in this version. Add the 1 to 1 1/2 cups peanuts, and blend quickly. The metal blade will make peanut butter out of it! Taste - does it have the flavor you are looking for? I added a few dashes of salt, since it seemed a bit sweet for my preference. This made a tremendous difference, toning down the sugar flavor.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, and check to see if those little gluten free peanut butter cupcakes are done!  Frost with your choice of frosting, or just pig out on them plain!

Simple Peanut Butter Frosting

• 1 cup peanuts
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup cream cheese
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup confectioners sugar (depending on how sweet you want it)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• dash salt
• 1/2 cup whipping cream

In food processor with steel blade, grind up peanuts until you make peanut butter. Add butter and cream cheese, mixing until a creamy consistency. Add sugar, vanilla and dash of salt and blend well. Add 1/2 cup whipping cream and beat until fluffy. Frost cupcakes, top with more peanuts or shaved chocolate and serve.

Finally, a recipe for Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cupcakes, from a mix, like the Cake Mix Doctor! Enjoy celiacs and gluten intolerant friends!

Thanks to Kathy, who posted a link from Mommysavers! Have y’all heard of the new “Drive Thru” diet at Taco Bell? Well, try one of the alleged “diet” items, a FREE Taco at Taco Bell - No Purchase Necessary!

Coupon - Taco Bell Drive-Thru Diet

Here’s another valuable one:
Free Fresco Taco w/Purchase of Large Fountain Drink
Print Your Coupon

We love the Amen Clinics and find Dr. Amen to be one of the preimminent brain researchers in the world! When Dr. Amen speaks, we listen!

Here is a fantastic “Brain Healthy Shopping List” culled from his many years of research! Great stuff - load your family up with these items, instead of the fake food alternatives!  Benefit your brain by what you eat!

Isn’t that the million dollar question! We are all curious, what do other spend! So we did a little research thanks to an email from a friend and here is a handy chart that shows you what the average family spent in 2009!

Look for fantastic recipes at ThePrudentWife.com to keep YOUR FAMILY’S spending in check for 2010!

Just a note to all of our readers! We are going through a TON of upgrades at www.ThePrudentWife.com, both on the website and in the equipment REQUIRED to keep up with huge technology changes!

Right now, we have new video equipment, audio equipment headed to our home in TODAY’S delivery truck! These simple changes will greatly enhance our video making capability and we can go back to bringing YOU videos that will help YOU save tons of money in your home!

We are looking forward to delivering loads of innovative ideas, practical how-to information, videos, and articles to help you win in 2010!

I found packages of chicken on sale yesterday, 6 fresh chicken breasts, marked down to only $3 each!!! WOW!!! I bought 5 packages, which equaled 30 boneless, skinless chicken breasts for about 50 cents apiece!

There are so many options on what to do with them, I am about to explode!

Do you ever find a screaming deal at the grocery store, and stare at it, unsure of what to do? Well here are some great ideas on what to do the next time you see FRESH chicken marked down!

After clearing out the pantry and fridge, chopped up two chicken breasts, I stuck them in a delicious Rigatoni Chicken Veggie Soup! That was warm and quite filling on a cold winter day.

Being a die hard Southern California girl, who misses her barbequed chicken, decided to throw it on the grill. While cold outside, it was sunny and gorgeous! So we fired up the outdoor barbie, and threw 3 packages on the heated grill. Kind of strange to cook outside, when it was cold, but it added to the fun! The view from our back porch is gorgeous, rolling hills dotted with farms, cows strolling along.

After grilling the chicken breasts, I put them in a Tupperware container and sealed the lid for a few minutes. This lightly steams them, making them more tender. Then, chop into bite sizes, salt VERY lightly, and divide into freezer bags (I did 2 breasts per bag). Cool thoroughly, label, then pop into the freezer. I kept a few BBQ’d chicken breasts whole, and put them in bags.

These frozen bags of Barbecued Chicken are ideal for picnics in summer, just grab a bag of BBQ’d chicken and pop into a cooler. We pack veggies and hummus and have the perfect, flavorful meal that supplies lots of energy! Year round, BBQ’d chicken is easy to pack into a cooler for a healthy meal on a long road trip! Imagine that - real food - rather than pressed, hydrogenated, fried, chemical-ed up, mystery meat!

These tasty BBQ’d chicken breasts won’t last that long in our freezer this winter. We will probably use them to make soups and stews, put into a crockpot dish, a casserole or throw into tacos or taco salads, and they would work well in enchiladas, burritos, nachos and tostados if your family prefers those.

All in all, I got a fantastic DEAL on this chicken, and the vast majority of it is COOKED and ready to make into simple, healthy meals!

Tomorrow, I will figure out what to do with the other 2 packages, a whole dozen MORE!

This is still in process…but our lights are flickering, so I am going to post this and release it and watch a movie with the family! It isn’t even edited properly…but time is OF the essence! Please send a link to anyone this might help! And do sign up for our free newsletter if you like this! Tomorrow, look forward to a post on ideas for keeping warm all winter in colder climates - with tons of super tips!

Hey everyone! We are getting our first REAL massive winter storm since moving to Tennessee. We have spent the day preparing for the possible storm and trying to think of anything we might need!

Our single biggest concern is electricity, since our home is 100% electric. Not comfortable with that fact, but that is what it is at this point in our lives. What would we do if we lost electricity and how can we prepare? How do we control the controllables and prepare with what we have! If you are caught in a storm, how can YOU control your controllables, and prepare!

The obvious QUICK solution is to go to a hotel and camp out there! However, in a winter storm, roads may be impassible and the whole area may be without power, so that is not necessarily an option. We live in the beautiful foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, so travel can be hazardous.

Hubby could not even make it home tonight, and his truck is stranded on the interstate! He began walking in the SNOW STORM home (8 or 9 miles) and was mercifully given rides from two generous strangers. We literally prayed him home, and the Lord was watching out for him. This is some storm, as a transplanted Southern Californian, it is all new to me! I am used to earthquakes and fires - NOT snow storms!

The best solution is how can we ALL make the best we can out of what we have at home, and prepare to cozy up, batten down the hatches and face this storm barreling down on our area.

To start with, we began washing ALL of our clothes early this morning, to make sure we would have clean clothes, no matter what happens! We made sure all of our fuzzy flannel pajamas were washed and we had plenty of ways to dress in layers if need be! Next came sheets and towels, which were on the laundry list to wash today anyway! I always feel so content when all of our clothing, sheets and towels are clean! We have plenty of extra towels and washcloths in the bathrooms, so we should be fine there.

Warmth would be our biggest concern, so we searched the garage for resources. In came the big bin of fleece fabric that we have, and we began throwing several loads of fleece, one after the other in the washer. Since fleece is the warmest “extra” fabric that we had, we chose that to wash first. Next came a few blankets that are warm, but the wrong sizes for our current beds.

How to light a dark house came next. I had my daughter get all of our candles out of the buffet, and gather the matches, putting them all into a pretty tray on the table. We already have our pretty crystal lamps on the table for Advent. Emily ran out and grabbed the extra lamp oil out of the garage, in case we need to refill everything. Flashlights were found and located near where we sit, so we can easily walk to the table and light candles if needed. Light secured!

Water is also a huge concern during a winter storm, in case you lose the ability to get clean water. We store two types, both regular water, and drinking water.

Throughout the day, we were pulling gallons of drinking water out of our reverse osmosis, filling coffee pots with water, tea pots, and making pitchers of iced tea. If we lose power, I will probably still want my iced tea! Washed the dog bowl and filled it to the brim with fresh water for ClaraBaughn! We also made sure we refilled all the water bottles we had. Yesterday, we made two huge pots of bone building broth, so we have lots of soup supplies ready.

Coming from earthquake prone California, I am fanatic about storing regular water for miscellaneous purposes. The garage has gallons and gallons of water, stored in everything from clean glass juice bottles, old soda bottles, and even old milk jugs. The point is not perfection - it is to have water to wash with IF needed. Begin building a supply!

Food is good to have on hand. Yesterday, I splurged at the grocery store and stocked up on toilet paper, tissues and lots of canned soups and foods. During the holidays there are always great buys, and we took advantage of coupons and sales.  I did go over budget on food, but I am also well prepared as we face a weather forecast of 7 or 8 days of snow, out of the next 10!

In the all electric house, we do also have an alternative cooking source, and that is our BBQ. It has the regular grill surface and we always make sure we have a separate burner on it as well. It would be a little hokey to grill out on the back porch as it snows, but it is at least an option! In our camping gear, we also have two stoves, a Civil War stove that burns wood, and we have two different cook tops that use propane. I am sorry to say, we are out of propane, that is one thing I did not think of!

Phones were also high on our priority list, we went ahead and charged all of our cell phones up, then turned them off. We are looking at a cozy weekend at home, enjoying some family time. That way, we can turn the phones on IF needed, or to check for messages, and be reassured that if it snows for three days they will keep their charge. Our end is covered, but whether or not they will WORK is another matter. My husband was stranded on the side of the road a few hours ago, and all circuits were busy and I could not get through for hours.

All of our laptops are fully charged, so whether we have electricity or not, we will all have varying times on our batteries. Not sure if we will have internet, but again, we are controlling the controllables on OUR end!

Finally, we grabbed our sleeping bags off the shelf in the garage, and put them right outside the garage door. If we lose power, the last thing we want to do is stumble through the garage, trying to figure out WHERE our sleeping bags are! We just want to grab them and go!

I am going to include some resources here, for others who might like to prepare.

OSHA on Winter Storms article can be found here, with some ideas on how to cope with storms.

Ready.gov has information on assembling a winter safety kit here.

Wondering how to keep food safe in an emergency, here are some ideas here! Specific instructions on what to do with all your different food items, with food safety ideas covering ANY problem you face! Here is the PDF of the same information. I would highly suggest printing this information and keeping it in an emergency notebook.

How to remove odors from refrigerator after losing power for long periods of time.