On the Rescue of the Chilean Miners

I've been glued to the news, along with the rest of the world, watching the rescue of the 33 miners who have been trapped underground, in Chile, since August 5. After 69 days of being trapped underground with no sunlight, they're being hoisted one by one, to the surface. Remarkably, the men seem to be in good spirits (as what I've seen from the news) and I feel this rescue to be nothing short of a miracle.

Photo from the Los Angeles Times

And while I watch this, I can't help but think of the strength of the human spirit and the suffering we are capable of enduring. The rescuers, along with these men, serve as inspiration and reminder that together, we are capable of doing anything.

My friend tells me that at the Chilean Embassy in Washington D.C., there's a big screen rigged up for people to watch the rescue and quite a crowd has gathered. Though I may not be a Chilean national, I'm still a human being and I can't help but feel the triumph and joy, that these men are being saved.

Enough things go bad in this world. Enough disasters, enough lives taken, enough natural resources destroyed. But sometimes, sometimes, something like this happens to really remind us how truly lucky we are to be alive.

The Ziploc Bag Obsession

I am obsessed with Ziploc bags. Obsessed, I tell you. Obsessed enough to buy 152 gallon Ziploc bags in one day.

Image from costco.com

Ok, so it was at Costco. And I'll tell you my reasons/uses justifying why I bought all those Ziploc bags.

1. Food Storage. Stated in my previous budgeting entry #1, we wrap meat in foil before placing it in Ziploc bags for storing in the freezer. We also label the bags with the item and date we placed it in. Also good for storing leftovers.

2. Making Crumbs. Sometimes a recipe calls for crushed wafers, crushed oreos or graham cracker crumbs. I place the wafers or cookies in a Ziploc bag and bash the hell out of them with a wine bottle. It's quite fun actually!

3. Marinating Meat. We marinate meat in Ziploc bags with a bowl underneath for catching leaks. Bowl and ziploc bag stay in the fridge. Enough said.

4. Keeping Cookie Dough. Scoop out the cookie dough in the amount that you need (i.e. 1 round tablespoons) and freeze in shape. Next time you want some fresh baked cookies, take the frozen scoops and pop them in the oven. (We always want fresh baked cookies.)

5. Electronic Accessories Storage. You know all those cables/manuals/whatever that came with your new laptop/camera/phone? I like to place all the accessories from one item in one bag and I label it Macbook/Canon G11/iPhone or whatever electronic item it came with. That way they don't end up a tangled, unknown mess in the bottom drawer.

6. Replacement Piping Bags. We never buy piping bags for the fancy frosting work my husband does on my cupcakes. He just places the frosting in a Ziploc bag and snips of a tip of one corner! Presto! Instant piping bag! (He also attaches the fancy frosting tips on the bag but I think you could probably do without them.)

7. Toiletry Kits. We all probably have two or three fancy toiletry kits stashed away in our closets but nothing beats the simplicity of a Ziploc bag (not to mention the protection from exploding shampoo bottles or leaking lotions.)

8. Cushioning Breakables. When I don't have any of those packing plastic bubbles or bubble wrap, I inflate these with a straw and use them as packing material. Would still use bubble wrap and packing peanuts for extra fragile stuff though.

9. Sorting Pantyhose. Mocha, brown, nude, black, knee length, calf length, etc. Stick the label on the Ziploc bag before stuffing the pantyhose in. That way you know what's inside. 

10. Kids Stuff. WHEN we have kids, I foresee many possible uses for these bags. Storing outfits, toys on the go, diapers, art materials, etc. I've even read these make great instant diaper changing pads. Just cut the bag open and voila!

11. Instant Ice Packs. Before we bought one of those ice packs mainly for cooler use, we'd fill a Ziploc bag with ice and and stick it in the cooler. Also good for injuries.

12. Screws and Odds and Ends. Store extra screws in labeled Ziploc bags. When taking apart furniture, keep all the screws for one piece (i.e. sofa) in one bag. We then like to tape the bag to the disassembled sofa. Or you can just mark the bags and keep them all together. This is great for moving.

And... that's all I've got. For now. With the 152 bags and at least 11 uses (I don't have kids yet,) I figure I won't have to buy any Ziploc bags for at least a year!

Learning How to Budget. Entry # 2

The next most important thing I've learned to do in order to save money:

2. Use your RESOURCES.

Resources like what you may ask? Well, for starters, there's the internet of course. These days, we never make any major purchases without checking the web. We can find lower prices, product reviews, and what's the best value for our money. We also scour sites like Craigslist and Ebay for deals on things we may not necessarily want brand new and we get to buy them at the fraction of the cost. Through Craigslist, Gerard was able to buy a matching side table to our current Ikea one, at less then half the price of it brand new.

If you look at my previous posts, you'll find my entry about Swagbucks. Through Swagbucks, you earn virtual money that translates to real money through purchasing items or gift cards. So far, I've earned a $25 Gift Certificate to Restaurant.com and two $5 Gift Card for Amazon. And all I had to do was switch search engines!

Related to my previous food budgeting entry, I've also learned to maximize the web when it comes to cooking. I love allrecipes.com which allows you  to plug in what ingredients they have and it'll show you recipes you can use with your available ingredients.

And since its just the two of us for now, we usually split recipes in half or else we'd end up with way too much food! This is especially true when I'm baking. After all, what are we going to do with two dozen cupcakes? I like to refer to this recipe adjuster which allows me to adjust recipes/cut them in half to suit our needs.

I also like to devote a few minutes of each day researching on the web on ways to save money. I've come across so many fun blogs by other women who write about ways to save and it's been fun reading all their different entries and ideas. I love that they spark my creativity and encourage me to try new things.

The internet has a plethora of resources on how to save and I feel like I've barely scratched the surface. But in the month or so that I've made it my mission, we've managed to stay in budget and put a little something aside (most especially for our upcoming Vegas trip!)

And what other resources are there aside from the internet? Well, there's the local library, thrift stores, garage sales, Costco, you name it! From everything I've learned, doing a little research and thinking outside the box is a great way to kick start simple money saving habits.

What's your favorite money saving tip?I might just make money saving tips a regular topic!

Photo from http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j278/scorpiad/Teen%20Diaries/saving-money.jpg

Awesome Oreo Cupcakes

Ok so I'm still working on the budgeting entry #2 and trying to figure out the best way to organize all the budgeting tips I've learned. But in the meantime, here's what I think are the best cupcakes I've made so far! I call them the Awesome Oreo Cupcakes.

I started off with the ever dependable Hershey's Chocolate Cake Recipe found here. But before pouring the batter into the baking cups, I carefully twisted some Oreos in half and placed a cookie with frosting in each baking cup. 

For the frosting, I used a tweaked version of the Cupcake Project's Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting found here. But instead of adding cocoa powder, I added the crushed other half of the Oreos (the ones with no creamy center) and added them to the mix. (We don't have a rolling pin so I had to make do by placing the Oreos in a zip bag and running them over with a bottle of wine.)

I still have to learn the fine art of piping frosting but luckily I was able to convince my husband to frost them for me. He used to be a pastry chef after all!

After the first taste, we both agreed that the cupcakes tasted very reminiscent of cookies and cream. The Oreo in the cupcake became a sort of fudgy crust and the frosting had chunks of cookies which added a nice crunch. Success!

Now if only we had cookies and cream ice cream to top them off with instead of frosting, then we could call them the Ultimate Oreo Cupcakes! Mmmmmm...

And now, back to regular programming.