Atlanta's Frugal Mom

I am now the mother of a seven year old girl.  While she will forever be my littlest Peanut, she is certainly growing up.  Like many modern mamas, I posted on my personal FB page, gushing over how amazing she is, and how proud of her I am, and yet, how I wish to hold on to every last piece of her seemingly fleeting childhood. But the truth is, I’m darn proud of the young lady she is becoming.  With each transition to the next stage, I mourn the small and little pieces of her that slip away, while also welcoming the new she brings to our world.  It’s bittersweet, at best, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. So, in all her squirrely-ness surrounding her birthday, she started telling us a few months beforehand that she’d “never” had a surprise party.  You know, in all of her (almost) seven years of living. Around the same time, I got an invitation from the good folks at All Fired Up to try out one of their locations.  Opportunity knocks, y’all. ...

You may recall, my family and I gave up meat for Lent this year, so I’ve been on the hunt for creative ways to keep dinner lively.  I can’t really say how I came up with the idea for chipotle tofu burritos, other than just to throw together some common ingredients and enjoy.  ….and that’s basically what I did, y’all. Ok, so it really started out when I bought chipotle-flavored tofu because it was BOGO at Publix and because there was a Berry Cart deal for $1 rebate on it.  …and I built a mealtess dinner around that one sale item, based entirely on what I already had in my pantry and fridge. To my delight, every one of my family members ate their dinner, even my picky kiddos.  Ok, so the boy choked his down, but he *did* eat it.  It may or may not have required a little come-to-Jesus convincing, but once he tried it, he decided they “weren’t bad.”  sigh   Chipotle-Flavored Tofu Burritos (1) package Nasoya baked tofu, chipotle flavor – sliced in to...

Part of our family routine includes attending Saturday evening Mass, and this weekend was no exception.  We drove separately, since my husband was going to take our daughter to a dance performance, while I took our son back home.  I came in about 15 minutes late with our son, as he was in the midst of a Prednisone-induced fit when it was time to go.  Sigh. We were all sitting in the back pew, doing our usual Mass thing, and I observed the family in the pew ahead of me – namely because there was a little girl with redhair sitting with them.  I noticed their mom, and likely her parents, with three school-age-ish kids.  The mom and the grandfather sat between the son, while the girls were sitting betwixt the grandparents. I quickly, quietly noticed the son likely had mild special needs.  I also noticed quickly how stressed the mother seemed.  It broke my heart to watch her out of the corner of my eye: I could sense the anxiety she felt.  She was nervous her son may act out, or simpl...