Guest Post: Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker

Hi, my name is Kristen and my blog is Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker. I know. It's a mouthful. When I started blogging, I didn't think about how hard that title would be to remember. I was simply describing my life in ten words or less. I started my blog in October of 2008. Little did I know that the next year would be full of events that would make me all the more harried and cause me to have to be all the more frugal.

I am a stay at home mom of five kids. We adopted our four boys when they were infants. None of them are brothers by birth, but two of them are biological first cousins. When our youngest boy was eight years old, I gave birth to our daughter. Surprise! So, we have two teenagers, two tweens and one preschooler.

I started my blog on a whim. I have always been a tightwad who loves to cook. I saw blogging as a good way to record some of my recipes, to remember some of the frugal things I did so I could do them again in the future. As I got into blogging, I also realized it could also be a way of preserving some family history. I started a feature called Saturday Stories in January 2009. Each weekend, I write about a relative or myself. I wrote about my grandfather's trip across the US during the Great Depression, I wrote about some of the trouble my dad got into when he was a youngster, I wrote about what it was like to have a rainbow family through adoption.  I talk to my parents each week and pick their brains for family lore.

I usually post five times a week. Monday, Tuesday and Friday are recipe days. This year, Mondays are devoted to a “Make Your Own” feature where I try to make from scratch something I used to buy at the store. Thursday, I participate in the Thursday Thirteen meme. Those days are my really random days. You might get a list of things in my medicine cabinet, an informational post about something in the kitchen or an update on my life. Saturday, as I said,  is reserved for family stories.

Blogging has opened up an entire world of fun. I have met so many wonderful people, including Wendy. I have also gotten to host giveaways, to do reviews of products and cookbooks and to increase my repertoire of recipes. It's also a place to let off steam when things get just a bit too crazy at my house.

As summer is in full swing here in Arizona, I am sharing one of our favorite summer dinner salad recipes. Use leftover chicken or rotisserie chicken; anything to keep from heating up your kitchen.

Ranch Chicken Salad:

3 cups chopped cooked chicken

1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix

1 cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup milk

2 large tomatoes, diced

2 avacadoes, diced

1 cup shredded mozzerella cheese

2 stalks celery, thinly sliced

Mix the ranch with mayo and milk. Stir in the chicken, cheese and celery until well covered with dressing (those things won't fall apart with firm stirring, so I added them first). Add the tomatoes and avacadoes and gently fold into the salad. Serve on rolls as sandwiches

Please feel free to come by and visit any time.  Browse for recipes, read some stories from long ago or commiserate with me about life with kids.