The New Adventures of this Modern Mama: part one

Most of you know that I am usually all about my gadgets, drive-thrus, Starbucks coffee and other modern conveniences, but since I have been home this summer, I have been researching every SINGLE IDEA that pops in my head for saving money and generally keeping my kids as healthy as possible and, to my surprise, I have become very efficient. I must admit that a mom cannot be supermom without a supportive husband. Mine listens to all my crazy ideas and VERY patiently allows me to try things out. And, Boy, did I get on a roll over the past few weeks!

I have started baking bread. No, not in a machine. Real, hand-kneaded yeast bread. I started this, at first, because Alistair and I eat a lot of different kinds of sandwiches. We go through LOTS of bread. One of my favorites is Pepperidge Farm Oatmeal.....mmmmmmmmm. Well, that stuff, although delicious, is $3.79 per loaf and that $3.79 is very difficult to spend when there is a (seemingly) perfectly fine loaf of wonder bread right next to it for $1.20. This is VERY tempting and I bought the cheap stuff quite a bit, but I knew there had to be a way to eat better on a budget. Duh, Patricia! Make it! Thanks to my Good Housekeeping Bible (I mean cookbook) and allrecipes.com, I've been baking my little heart out! Feeding this breastfeeding Mama and the rambunctious toddler fresh, preservative-free yummy yummy goodness for around 60 cents per loaf! But I don't just feel good about cutting back the amount of preservatives that my boys get and saving money at the same time, but I feel accomplished when I manage to do this seemingly daughting task while caring for my children, and most of the time wearing Ronan! (it's the little things that excite me these days).