Crabby Housewife

Best Ways to Save Money on College Textbooks

March 25, 2016 August 19, 2015 By Crabby Housewife Leave a Comment

It’s that time of year again. The kids are getting ready to head back to college and you’re crunching numbers. Not only are tuition costs completely out of control, but textbook costs are more expensive than ever.

Each year, I take the time to shop around for used books and typically save at least 25%. Some years, I do better than other years. For example, I saved about $85 on my youngest daughter’s books this year. I had to buy one book new because of access codes and could only find it through her school bookstore at the tune of $140. Yep, you read that right. $140 for one electronic book. Craziness. I think I’m writing the wrong type of books.

Over the years, I’ve learned a few tips for saving money on textbooks.

Tips to Save Money on College Textbooks

I take some very specific steps to save money on college textbooks.

I start by visiting the school website. I start an Excel sheet that lists the class and then the books required for that class. I also include the following info: ISBN, book title, edition, author, cost used and cost to rent from the school’s bookstore.
I then go to sites like cheaptextbooks.com and Amazon and I punch in the ISBN and do a comparison. At this point, I really don’t want to rent from anyone other than the school unless tKhe savings is amazing. I’ve been swindled too many times on this. I will rent from Amazon because their process is clear cut.
I don’t always just go with the cheapest price. You have to be careful. Make sure it is the right edition. If there are access codes, you’re better off buying from the school or new.
I then compare total price, including shipping, with the price I can get it from the school for. Sometimes, if a novel for a lit class is inexpensive, it is actually cheaper to get from the school and pick up there because you save shipping. If I can save at least $2 with shipping and everything, I order elsewhere. It’s easier to have the books shipped to your home instead of making the kiddos pick them up anyway.
Sell your old textbooks. I list mine on Amazon. I get the best prices there. Just make sure you ship them out right away and that you’re honest about condition (note highlighting, wear and tear, etc.) and you’ll get good feedback.

Some schools offer the option to purchase electronic copies. Unfortunately, the prices on those aren’t usually much better than the print copies. My kids like print copies better for studying, evening though they have tablets and Kindles.

Why I’m in Love with Mongolian Stir Fry

February 16, 2018 August 18, 2015 By Crabby Housewife Leave a Comment

Recently, my family went on a cruise. On board the ship was a station called the Mongolian Wok. I’ve had stir fry before, but usually pretty bland offerings. The food station on the ship allowed us to pick what we wanted in our stir fry and choose a Mongolian seasoning. Oh my goodness! Where has this food been my entire life? Okay, I know it’s been around forever, but I’ve not been eating.

That is about to change and here is why…

It has just the right kick but not too much
My taste buds love the bursts of flavor
I can use chicken, which is my favorite mix-in meat, but I can also use beef or pork or seafood
I can utilize leftovers to make a stir fry. This is a win-win for me as it saves money and is delicious
It’s pretty healthy overall. I can sub brown rice for the noodles, lower sodium soy sauce and it is chock full of veggies.
It’s easy to make. Takes only one large skillet or wok instead of multiple dirty pots and pans.
Can use healthy oils if needed or a non-stick surface and no oil.

Here is a simple recipe I made the other night that would have taken me mere minutes if the brown rice hadn’t been a major failure. Although I had the long-cooking rice, you can certainly use minute rice instead or cook the rice ahead.

Simple Mongolian Stir Fry

The recipe below uses bagged, frozen items. You can certainly throw together leftovers to make this dish. Throw in leftovers like fresh mushrooms, peppers, onions, zucchini, broccoli (whatever is on hand). Make your own sauce. I prefer Mongolian BBQ sauce made from ginger. I've added a link to an excellent recipe just below these directions.

Author: Crabby Housewife

Ingredients

Frozen bag of stir fry veggies with sauce I used 2 bags, but this was way too much food. We had more leftovers than we could eat
Frozen bag pre-cooked diced chicken
Dash of dark soy sauce Kikkoman is what I had on hand
1 Tablespoon canola oil

Instructions

Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok
Add frozen stir fry veggies and dash soy sauce on top. Give it all a stir and cook on medium heat until heated through.
You can either cook the chicken in a separate skillet or throw in with the veggies. I chose to cook it separate because I like the chicken browned a bit more than the way it comes.
Cook rice in microwave following instructions.
Once veggies and chicken are cooked, stir together and add sauce. Cook another five minutes or so.
Layer rice in a bowl and place stir fry on top. Yum.

Mongolian BBQ Sauce Recipe

Found: Top of Ural Mountains – Fossils, Minerals And Ores

March 25, 2016 August 17, 2015 By Crabby Housewife

This article was previously posted and is being republished.

The Ural Mountains are rich in fossils and minerals. Find out what ones are in this western portion of Russia.

Minerals, fossils and ores found in the Ural mountains point to the area once being under water.

Located in the western portion of Russia, near the Arctic Ocean, the Ural Mountains have offered a source of mystery and fascination for locals and visitors. Marine fossils have been found high up in the Ural Mountains, nowhere near sea level. There are two schools of thought on how the fossils, minerals and ores got there.

Some scientists believe that the earth was once made up of supercontinents, which collided, pushing tectonic plates up and creating the mountains. Creation scientists, like Ken Hamm, believe marine life deposits were left on the mountains during the great flood described in the Bible.

With one theory, fossils were formed over billions of years with a little water. With the other theory, fossils were formed over a shorter period of time with a lot of water. The science behind both theories is pretty amazing and worth further study. No matter which theory you subscribe to, there have been several types of fossils and minerals discovered in the Ural Mountains.

Types of Fossils

Microbial boundstones make up a large part of the fossils found in the Ural Mountains. These are sponges and other creatures that typically make up a barrier reef that you would see on the sea floor rather than on top of a mountain. Other fossils include fish and shelled creatures.

Limestone, Standstone, Dolomite

The actual rock on the west side of the Ural Mountains are believed to be from deposits from an ancient sea dated around the Paleozoic period. For a decade, Dr. Soja of Colgate University has studied the unusual terrain and preserved and collected fossils, categorizing them in an attempt to explain the unique findings. While the limestone, sandstone and dolomite are thought to hail from a shallow ocean (coral reef), the east side is made of rocks similar to rocks found deep in the ocean.

Ores and Minerals

Sediments from the sea also helped to form some of the numerous minerals and ores located in the Ural Mountains. A few of the natural resources that can be found are gabbro, quartzite and schist.

More Study Needed

To fully understand the different fossils that have been found and to discover more, researchers like the team led by Dr. Soja continue to study the Ural Mountains and to find new specimens to classify. There’s no telling what might be discovered next in this exciting branch of geology.

Image Credits: Irina Kazanskaya via Creative Commons

Food Is…

August 13, 2016 August 13, 2015 By Crabby Housewife Leave a Comment

I don’t know about you, but some of my very best memories growing up involve food in some way. That may be why I constantly battle between my desire to be trim and my love of food (food usually wins).

When I was little, we would often go visit my mother’s family in West Virginia. All the aunts and uncles, grandparents, extended cousins, and a few friends would gather around huge tables of food and have a reunion every year.

We would then traipse up into Mulberry Holler to see the old site of where the home once stood and visit a graveyard on top of a mountain where my mother’s father is buried and a myriad of other ancestors.

At the end of the holler was the treat I always looked forward to. Down a meadow, across a small creek, there sat a little house with a long front porch. It was a fairly simple house, but the treat was that all the cousins would gather and play and Aunt Eula would be waiting to greet you with a smile, a hug and some treat she’d cooked.

I can remember the women gathering around the kitchen table to catch up on gossip and share coffee and food.

Think about it, we mark weddings with a buffet and cake. We mark funerals with an after-dinner. We celebrate holidays with big meals and gatherings.

Nearly every happy childhood memory somehow involves food, from visiting the local fair to going to a school basketball game and munching on nachos.

Food can also bring together different nations and help you make new friends. Even bad food can bring us together as we complain and commiserate about food that isn’t up to our standards.

When you gather with friends, isn’t it often for snacks or a meal together?

Food is the thing that seems to bind us all together. Every living being must get nourishment in some way.

A warm, gooey grilled cheese lets a heartbroken child know she is loved and Mom will always be there to cook her another one.

A cake on our birthdays tells us that someone cared enough to bake it or at least pick one out. It makes us feel special.

There are some comfort foods that can cheer us up just from their smell. Homemade biscuits reminds me of lazy Saturday mornings at one of my favorite aunts’ houses. She’d always make from scratch biscuits and a huge spread of food for us.

Food is the backdrop to our daily lives in so many ways. Food tells us we are loved, we are important, we all have something in common.

So, what is the food that does it for you? What is the one thing that you simply must have to cheer up, for your birthday, or at other times?

For me, when I am ill, I just want someone to bring me a bowl of orange sherbet, because my dad would always go get that for me when I was sick as a child. It makes me feel loved. What is yours?

4 Awesome Cake Video Tutorials by Ann Reardon

March 25, 2016 August 12, 2015 By Crabby Housewife Leave a Comment

Those of you who know me well know that I love to watch funny cat videos on YouTube. This sometimes leads to other interesting videos.

This week, I discovered a set of cake videos created by Ann Reardon. Below are my favorites. What do you think? Do any of you want to tackle these? I’m trying the first one this weekend.

Love you all,

Lori