Change Becomes Change

Small Donations Can Be Lessons in Sharing

Do your kids have too much stuff too? How many closets in your house are overflowing with games and toys that get played with a handful of times each year? How do you manage the growing amount of "stuff", especially as gift-giving holidays and birthdays come around?

Like we do each time this year around our house, we're going through the children's toys, games, books, stuffies, and puzzles to decide which ones will continue to be enjoyed, and which will be donated so that someone else can enjoy them. We do the same thing with clothes and winter gear, but the kids don't get involved with that process much, other than trying things on.

The type-A organizer in me started doing this clothes-closet-cleanout with each change in season many years ago since they outgrow them so quickly when they're young.

And it felt great. For a few reasons. Getting rid of the clutter feels good and I love to admire their closets after a good cleanout. While they don't get the same pleasure out of saying goodbye to their clutter, I mean gently-loved toys, that I do, we all like that warm fuzzy in our hearts that we feel when we share them with other children who don't have as much.

This year, we cleaned out their closets a few weeks before Christmas "in preparation for new things" and to help other families out. We'll do a second round after Christmas because new presents that need a home in a crowded closet are a big motivation to find donations.

The Lessons Learned

I'll admit, we started this tradition when the children were young and have always involved them so there's no struggles or challenges. And I don't ask them about giving up their most beloved treasures. I know that this can be an emotional process for some children and have heard from parents that it's just easier to go through their toys when they're not home. For those of us who have an easier time with this, it's a great way to teach important lessons of sharing and being grateful for what we have.

For other families, maybe those lessons can be learned by letting your child buy or make a small gift to give another child or to donate. That one small act might, and those warm fuzzies, might make it a little easier for them next time.

12 Days of Sharing: White Chocolate Raspberry Slices

My mom and I did some serious holiday baking and cooking growing up. Serious. And those special times together in the kitchen are some of my favorite childhood memories. Since my own children are just 5 and 3, we're not quite at that same experience...yet. But they try.

They like to help me measure and pour ingredients and do a little mixing of their own. They enjoy rolling dough, making shapes and decorating but can be distracted by shiny objects inherent to the holidays. Still, I love just having them in the kitchen with me, even if it is between rounds of Yatzee!

For the Share Our Strength Share Your Season holiday campaign, we decided to participate to end childhood hunger in a couple ways: we planned a weeks' worth of low-cost meals and donated the difference between what that week's grocery bill and our usual budget to Share Our Strength, and today we're co-hosting the 12 Days of Sharing virtual cookie jar (see all of the holiday treats shared right here).

I'm so pleased to share with you one of our favorite cookie recipes: White Chocolate Raspberry Slices. We love almost all things berries up here in the northwest and these are no different! They go great with a cup of cold milk!

We hope that you'll enjoy the cookies as much as we do - and that you'll donate what you can to Share Our Strength to help hungry children across America. Now, more than ever, they need our help. You can CLICK HERE to donate (feel free to share this too!).

White Chocolate Raspberry Slices

1/2    cup   Butter, room temperature
1/4    cup   Sugar
1       tsp    Vanilla
1 1/4 cup   Flour
1/4   cup    Raspberry Jam
2       oz     White Chocolate, chopped or chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl with a mixer on medium speed, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Stir in flour and mix until the dough comes together. Depending on many different factors like humidity and altitude, you might need to add a bit more butter to get the dough to come together. 

Divide the dough into thirds. On a floured surface, roll each third into a rope about 1" thick. Place the ropes approximately 3" apart on a buttered baking sheet. With your finger, press into the dough to make 1/2" wide bowls about 1" apart. Spoon 1/4 (or a little more) teaspoon of raspberry jam into each bowl.

Bake until edges are light brown, about 13 to 15 minutes. Let cool.

Melt white chocolate and drizzle across the ropes as you want. Chill until chocolate is firm to touch (about an hour is good). Cut each rope, diagonally between jam bowls.

Enjoy!

 

Want to make sure you get Change Becomes Change updates when they happen? Sign up for a free subscription.  SUBSCRIBE HERE

Sharing a Smile

This put a smile on my face. If it does the same for you, then pass it along to someone you want to share a smile with.

If you can't see the video in your email, CLICK HERE.

Have a great day

12 Days of Sharing

For my family, many of our favorite holiday memories involve food: the cookies I baked with my mom and grandma, our family's special Italian dressing that I overindulged in each year, and our traditional Italian Christmas Eve dinner with grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles. Lots of food, fun and family.

For many families, the holidays won't be about food. In fact, they might not have anything special at all. If you're been to Change Becomes Change before, you know that hunger in our communities is rising and affects many children each day. While it might seem like a really big problem to tackle, there are simple ways we can all help out.

I'm pretty excited to tell you about the 12 Days of Sharing fund-raising campaign and virtual cookie swap hosted by In Jennie’s Kitchen that I'm participating in this year. Our virtual cookie jar will include cookie recipes from the amazing participating food bloggers.  Each day, there's a different co-host who will help spread the word about how you can make a difference too. Change Becomes Change will co-host the virtual cookie jar on December 16th so make sure you're signed up to receive our updates to your e-mail box.

Did I forget to mention the prizes? If you make a donation by CLICKING HERE, you'll earn a ticket that will enter you for a chance to win one of many fantastic prizes.  Yes – giving has its privileges!

Want to participate in our virtual cookie swap?  Simply post a recipe on your blog with the badge above (and its link too!) and send an email to: injennieskitchen@gmail.com. Include a link to your post and a recipe photo if you want to be a Featured Pick.

Check out the virtual cookie jar every day to discover new holiday treats and help us spread the word by sharing this with friends, family and strangers too, on Facebook, Twitter or however you share your news.

More Great Ways to Save So You Can Give

Please visit the other featured blogs at Oprah.com's Deck The Blogs holiday roundup for new ideas and recipes. New articles are added all the time and we're all so excited to be a part of this program!

I'm pleased to introduce you to guest blogger Kate Miller, founder of Cooking During Stolen Moments. She and I met through Share Our Strength and immediately connected. As you read her story, you'll see that we share a strong passion around helping hungry children in our country. Welcome Kate. I'm so honored to have you join our little community here at Change Becomes Change.

Several years ago, my husband and I found ourselves in dire financial circumstances. We had three small children at the time and we were trying to grow our newly-opened small business. My husband took on a part time job in addition to the work he did for our business, but it still wasn't enough. At the end of the day, we had to decide between paying our mortgage or putting food on the table. It was a difficult time, to say the least.

But we persevered. We learned to let go of pride as we quickly realized that pride came from getting the job done, not by how the job was done. For us, that meant we relied on our local food pantry once a month. As humbling as it was, we felt blessed by the generosity of others.

We cut every single possible expense. We made do with one car. We canceled cable and the internet. And I learned to shop on a very tight budget while still putting wholesome, well rounded meals on our table.

Times have changed for the better as the years have gone on. However, my grocery spending habits have not changed. During that lean year, I learned to stretch every dollar.

We used to have to save to live, now we save to give.

Our experiences with our local food pantry changed me. They made me see the importance of helping in any way possible. I felt first-hand the pain of wondering where my children's next meal would come from. Now, I want to do whatever I can to alleviate that pain for others.

That is why I passionately support Share Our Strength and their ambitious but admirable goal of ending childhood hunger by 2015. If I can do even a little to help further their cause, you better believe I'll do what I can.

When I read about Gina's fantastic idea to save 10% from our grocery bills for a week in order to donate that money to Share Our Strength, I knew I had met a kindred spirit. Her idea is so powerful. Think of the impact we could have for furthering Share Our Strength's mission if we all did that once a month or even just once a year.

Gina has already shared some fantastic tips on how you can painlessly save 10% on your grocery bill. Now I have five new ideas to add to her list.

1. Menu Plan. Take a few minutes to plan out the meals your family will eat for the week and write a grocery list based off of those meals. Then, shop with your list in hand and stick to the list. I'm always amazed at how much I save when I have a plan and stick to my list.
2. Opt for the store-brand. The quality of store-brand products has really improved over the past few years. In my experience, there is no discernible difference on most products. If you're hesitant, start small. Some of the store-brand products I've had the most success with are pastas, frozen vegetables and baking items.
3. Clip coupons, but only for the things you really need. You can save a huge amount of money on your grocery bill with coupons when you use them wisely. There's no sense in buying something you don't really need just because you have a good coupon for it though. Take the time to compare coupons to your grocery list from step 1 and use what you can.
4. Don't be afraid of manager's specials. These are the items that are marked down for a quick sale because their expiration date is approaching quickly. I most often find manager's specials on meats and bakery items. And when I do, I grab a few to stick in the freezer. The same goes for produce. Those bananas that are marked down to 15 cents a pound because they're just the other side of over ripe will make great banana bread. And even those can be frozen.
5. Think outside of the box. There are so many creative and unique ways to save money at the grocery store. Think of your family's eating habits and your spending habits. What seems extraneous? Do without for just one week and share the savings.

Choosing to do just one or two of these things will easily save 10% on your weekly grocery trip. It truly is a painless way to do something good. I challenge you to do your part to help Share Our Strength reach their No Kid Hungry by 2015 goal. As for my family, we'll definitely be doing ours!

Kate Miller cooks frugal and delicious meals for her family of six. She has been cooking on a tight budget for over a decade. Although she has no formal culinary or financial training, she considers her kitchen education as trial-by-fire, with five of the toughest critics eating at her table every day. Kate shares recipes daily on her blog, Cooking During Stolen Moments.Additionally, Kate is the founder of Stolen Moments Menu Planning, where she creates personalized menu plans to help families save time and money in the kitchen.

Shopping Locally Made Easier

For some of us living in suburbs or communities without a thriving arts and crafts community, it can be a challenge to buy clothing, accessories, home decor or gifts locally. As much as we may want to support our local businesses, growers, markets and craftspeople - it's sometimes really hard.

But let's just take a step back and think about this another way. Maybe we can take small steps towards buying locally. Helping our local communities is a good thing for so many reasons...and it feels really good. So, what do you think of these ideas?

1. Maybe for some of us this year, buying local means buying "made in the USA" instead of imported items
2. For us in the North West, maybe we support local wineries, artists and companies with items from our "Made in Oregon" (or Washington, or whatever your state is) stores
3. Could we support local services, restaurants and businesses with gift certificates
4. Here's one I like (hint, hint!): Browse the "local" section on Etsy.com for bonus points on local AND handmade goods
5. Something we're taking great pleasure in this year is making presents at home with what you already have, can find in nature, cook, bake or find locally (I'll be sharing these with you soon)

So, do these ideas work for you? What other ideas do you have to get a little closer to "local" (and a little farther from those big global guys)?

Not getting Change Becomes Change updates delivered free to your email inbox? SUBSCRIBE HERE

Saving Time with Healthy Meals this Holiday Season

NEWS: I'm honored and a little giddy to have this, and other stories from Change Becomes Change featured on Oprah.com. Find great holiday ideas at Oprah's Deck the Blogs Roundup

It's the holiday season and that means that these are busy days because life doesn't slow down so that we can enjoy making memories with our families. We still have work, school, laundry, errands and chores to do. And we also have cookies to bake, ornaments to make, songs to sing and stories to read. As much as I enjoy spending time in the kitchen, I'd rather spend that time baking our favorite cookies with my kids over making dinner this time of year.

But the kids have to be fed. Darn it. And sometimes my husband and I have to eat too. I might make some sacrifices but we're not resorting to fast food, takeout or processed foods. So, we've found some solutions to help us cut corners, and not quality.

• Cook once, enjoy twice (or more) - Our freezer is now full with meals that freeze well and go right into the oven. Think lasagna, enchiladas (to save even more time, I make enchilada casserole instead of rolling individual ones), meat loaf, soups and stews. I'll often buy a Costco-sized pack of ground turkey and brown up one batch with Italian herbs, one with Mexican herbs, etc. then turn them into various meals to freeze.

• Make Sunday Sauce - Growing up in an Italian family, Sunday meant the entire family gathering over pasta and our family "sugo" (sauce). My mom always made many times more sauce than we needed so we'd have meals throughout the upcoming week. Make some this weekend, enjoy and freeze the leftovers for those busy weekday dinners. You can also use the sauce for lasagna or baked pasta to freeze.

• Get to Love Your Slow Cooker - Ours is a high-demand appliance year around but doesn't even get put away this month. We have the family-sized slow cooker and make many of those "cook once, enjoy twice" meals like chili, stew and soup in ours. An easy recipe is Tuscan Beans (white beans, pancetta or sausage, garlic, onion, herbs and greens tossed in before served over rice) but my entire family has a favorite that I'll gladly make a couple times each month: Hearty Turkey Chili.

Hearty Slow Cooker Turkey Chili

1 lb     Ground Turkey
2 lb     Red Kidney Beans
1 lb     Black Beans
21 oz  Tomato Soup (we sometimes use a creamy version)
1        Medium Onion
1 tbs   Chili Powder (could use two for an adult version)
1 tsp   Garlic Powder
1 tsp   Cumin

Brown the ground turkey and onion in vegetable oil with a pinch of pepper. Mix everything well in your slow cooker, cover and cook for 8 to 10 hours on low, or 4 to 6 hours on high. If you're using dry beans soak them overnight and cook for the longer amounts for tender beans. You can also add veggies like roasted butternut squash, diced carrots or frozen corn.

My kids like to crush tortilla chips and sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese to top off their bowl of chili and will beg for leftovers in their lunches - it's that good!

If you have a favorite meal that let's you save time in the kitchen so you can spend more time with your family, share it with us! Leave a comment below or send me an email at ginarau1@yahoo.com - thanks!

So, now that you have this extra time, how will you spend it?

What Does Family Mean To You?

Many people feel that the holidays are a time for family - to travel to see family we see only once a year, gather with loved ones, and share these special days with each other. And that does sound lovely, doesn't it?

Our son is a pretty sensitive kid and loves his family more than anything else. He's now attending school with children who have family around all the time and he's often wondering why he doesn't. We have family friends that we're very close with and share special times with, which means a lot to him, but it's not always the same. We've had some challenging discussions recently and I'm constantly struggling to answer his really tough questions.

Through all of this I've come to believe is that "family" means different things different people. 

I'd love to hear what "family" means to you. If it's important, and you live far from family, how do you maintain the ties? Do you sacrifice adventurous vacations to new places in order to visit family each year? What else are you doing to make family a priority?

Thanks for sharing.

Want to make sure you get Change Becomes Change updates delivered to your email inbox? SUBSCRIBE HERE

Ideas to Save 10% to Help End Childhood Hunger

Update: I'm honored and a little giddy to have this, and other stories from Change Becomes Change featured on Oprah.com. Find great holiday ideas at Oprah's Deck the Blogs Roundup.

Earlier this week I challenged all of us to cut our food budget by 10% one week this month for Share Our Strength's Share Your Season campaign to end childhood hunger and am pleased to see a lot of interest around supporting this worthy cause. I've also had a lot of requests for suggestions on how to cut 10% from our food expenses which is not always easy to do. Some of us have already cut food budgets which makes further trims the hardest.

But...it's possible. Times are tough but, believe it or not, if you're reading this than there's likely many others with even less (or nothing) to spend on feeding their family. I promise you.

I hope that you'll find some new ideas here to get as close to 10% as possible (some of these are easy, especially if it's just for a week). I know that we'd all really appreciate additional ideas that you have to add in the comments section below.

• Buy in season - It costs a lot less to buy fresh produce that's in season than produce that's been shipped in from South America or has been stored for months.

• Brew your coffee at home - or better yet, at the office. With a medium flavored latte running about $4, enjoying your cup of joe home brewed just a few days a week really adds up. If you usually get those $4 coffees every day, save the treat for the weekend and brew it at home during the week. There's about $20 right there!

• Eat out less - It's pretty rare that eating at a restaurant costs less than eating at home.

• Drink less - Really, drink less alcohol, especially out. This is where restaurants are making their most margin. While you might be saving a lot of money with happy hour food, don't give it all back to them by indulging in a couple full-priced cocktails. Check out Costco, Trader Joe's and Cost Plus for great deals on wine and beer to enjoy at home before going out.

• Buy less expensive protein - Nuts, beans, lentils and vegetables like broccoli, beets, carrots and squash (which is in season & can store for 4 months!) are high in protein but tend to be less expensive than most meats, dairy and eggs. Think chili, vegetable soup with beans, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on whole wheat bread.

At the end of the week the most important thing is that we collectively saved something and made a donation to Share Our Strength. While 10% is a good goal (and we'd love to see some give more), every dollar helps feed a hungry child!

When you're week is up and you're ready to give, CLICK HERE. And don't forget to let us know how you saved money in order to help feed hungry children.

Thanks for visiting Change Becomes Change. If you'd like to get ideas for simple ways you can start making change happen delivered to your email inbox, just click here for a free subscription.

Sharing What We Have to End Childhood Hunger This Holiday Season

Update: I'm honored and a little giddy to have this, and other stories from Change Becomes Change featured on Oprah.com. Find great holiday ideas at Oprah's Deck the Blogs Roundup.

Did you enjoy a nice Thanksgiving with the whole spread? We certainly did and were very thankful that we were able to do so this year since there were many families who couldn't. Some scaled back, others likely didn't have much of a spread at all. And still others might have just been thankful for a warm meal at the local shelter. Many put their children first and hope that there's at least enough to provide them a decent meal.

A recent USDA report found that 14.6% of U.S. households, or some 49 million – 1 in 7 Americans – suffered from hunger at some point in 2008,while the number of hungry children in the US reached a record 16.7 million – or 22.5%. The experts believe that the number of Americans experiencing “food insecurity” will climb steadily in 2009 and 2010 as hard economic times and unemployment continues.

Children who suffer from hunger are likely to face lifelong challenges including:

• weaker immune systems

• more stomachaches

• headaches

• colds

• ear infections

• fatigue

• behavioral difficulties

• impaired performance academically, socially and in sports

I hope that you'll agree with me that no child deserves to suffer like this from a lack of food and help make a difference to the almost 17 million children who won't be enjoying holiday meals like us this year.

If you haven't heard of Share Our Strength then let me introduce you. Share Our Strength is a national organization that works hard to see that no child in America grows up hungry. That's no easy task so they rely on many supporters to help them in a variety of ways. This holiday season, whether you're looking for a thoughtful holiday gift for friends and family, or a way to make a lasting difference in the lives of children in need, Share Our Strength offers great ways to Share Your Season and help end childhood hunger.

Here are just a two easy ways you can Share Your Season to help:

1. Let friends and family know about your commitment to childhood hunger by making a donation and giving them Share Our Strength gift tags to spread the word. You can even send these donation announcements as e-cards too.

2. Text in a $5 donation right from your mobile phone (ok, it really doesn't get any easier than that). Get the details here.

Times may be tough for a lot of us this year, which means that giving to others may be less than in year's pass. While there are more people with greater needs this year than ever, we all need to make sure that our own children are fed first.

But here's an idea that helps everyone: no matter what your weekly food budget is, let's all cut it by 10% one week this month for the Share Your Season campaign. Just one week. Just 10%. So if your food budget is $100, you're spending $90. And the $10 (or 10%) goes to Share Our Strength to help end childhood hunger. That might mean less dessert or one less meal out this week.

How can you save 10% this week?

Thank you for visiting Change Becomes Change. If you'd like to get ideas for simple ways you can start making change happen delivered to your email inbox, just click here for a free subscription.