Filling:

Crust:
Mix together cooked rice, egg and soy sauce. Spread evenly to cover well- buttered quiche pan or pie plate. Bake rice crust at 350 F for 10 minutes. Remove from oven.

Filling:
Place chopped vegetable in bottom of crust. Mix together: eggs, milk, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Pour over broccoli. Top with grated cheese. Bake at 350 F for 45 minutes, or until set. Remove from oven, and let sit ten minutes before slicing, if serving fresh; or wrap pie pan, label and freeze. Quiche can be served cold after thawing for a yummy hot weather treat; or heat the thawed quiche at 350 F for 20 minutes.

Deborah Taylor-Hough (wife, mother of three, and free-lance writer) is the author of the soon-to-be released book, "Frozen Assets: How to Cook for a Day and Eat for a Month." The above information on frozen lunches and "Use It Up" Quiche were used with permission, and taken from the Frozen Assets book. For information on ordering a pre-release copy of Frozen Assets directly from the publisher, go to: http://members.aol.com/DSimple/advance.html

Last time I wrote about having a spa vacation at home. OK, honestly how many tried it? Mmmm...don't see many hands out there. Why is it that we make sure everyone else is taken care of instead of us? We are the nurturers, making sure kids have activities and playgroups, interactions, learning and socialization but what about us.

We need to keep our minds fresh as well. And I don't mean by reading a recipe out of a woman's magazine. We as women, moms, need to keep ourselves fresh, our minds that is. So, when was the last time you read something, that wasn't A. for work/school, etc, B. on kids/parenting, C. full of ads/coupons. Reading is fundamental. We've heard that saying so many times, right? But, it is necessary to further our growth as human beings. Personally, I enjoy books on personal and spiritual growth and guess what sometimes I never crack open a book. How? By 'reading' books on tape, a boon to those with limited time but also needing to keep sane as well. You may never of thought of this as a low cost way of keeping yourself out of the therapists office but it works. It works by you taking some time to grow and expand out of where you are right now. The library is full of books and tapes, for FREE, that will help you on this journey. And I will help you as well on this journey.

Discussing books with others, keeps you fresh and always looking for yet another meaning within the pages, and perhaps your life. So, for those interested, I am starting a Free Book Discussion group via email, just send email to: momsbookgroup-subscribe@makelist.com, and you will be on the list. I would like to discuss books, that are first of all, relatively short, also possibly available on cassettes, and with real heartfelt meaning to make you think about your life, ones' that will speak to our very souls, and ones' that will let us see a little growth by the time we turn the last page and also ones' to bring a little bubble of laughter and joy into your life.

Don't turn the last page on yourself. You are a never-ending story. Everyday is another day to begin anew. As one that gives constant nurturing, you also need constant nurturing too. Reading or listening to some excellent books is a way to expand and explore your world and to keep your intellectual life going among chaos. So, read a good book today!

Deb Frantz, mom of 3 girls, 8 1/2, 7, 22 mths.
http://momsconnection.base.org
ICQ#8864667

Aside from the religious associations what is the goal of the holiday season?

Most people say it is about celebration, the spirit of giving and family and friends. With that in mind consider the following tips to help you reduce stress and enjoy your holidays more.

--* Finding More Time *--

Send holiday postcards in lieu of regular cards that require more writing, postage and stuffing an envelope.

Opt to NOT send holiday cards. Warn friends and family in advance that you are simplifying your life and not to expect holiday cards.

Send your holiday greetings via E-mail or internet if you can. It saves addressing and stuffing envelopes, stamps and gets there quicker.

Don't feel obligated to spend time with family and friends that really don't mean anything to you.

Video record your favorite shows and view them at a more convenient time. Be sure to fast forward through the commercials. Some 1 hour shows can have almost 20 minutes of commercials!

Hire someone to come in and clean up the previous day's effects on the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's etc. We use this time to spend time with family, going to movies, etc.

Get a neighborhood teenager to help with housework, gift wrapping and other duties. They could probably use the money.

Order your postage stamps though the mail.

--* Simplify Gift Giving *--

Ask and get people what they really want. This not only helps them not have to return or figure out what to do with unwanted items but it also encourages them to do the same for you.

Buy holiday and birthday gifts all year long. It saves time, energy, money and hassle. OK, storage can be an issue but this gives you incentive to purge stuff that you may be needlessly holding on to. ~~We started doing this a couple years ago when expecting our second child in late October. Additionally, our family has 5 birthdays in November and December. Wow! What a difference. And yes, we already have several gifts purchased.~~

Buy a family gift, not each family member a gift. A nice holiday decoration if often well received.

Shoot for Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday mornings, if you need to do shopping. It is less crowded.

Do your shopping in one place. With list in hand go to your nearest mall and get it all at one time.

--* Heading it off at the pass *--

Plan quiet time and activities for you and your family.

Have your car serviced before the holidays to head off potential problems.

Limit extracurricular activities.

Avoid starting new projects.

Keep healthy, easy to prepare snacks on hand.

Don't skip meals. It can make you cranky and more likely to go for the fast food. And need we say the holidays are not the time to diet.

Make holiday dinners a potluck. Everyone brings a dish and even their own take home containers.

Use more larger decorations in place of a multitude of smaller ones.

Pay bills ahead. Pay about 20% above your normal utility or other bills so when the holidays are here you will have less bills to deal with and seemingly more funds.

Invite friends and family over for regular family dinners rather than having a dinner party. It is more intimate and less stressful.

Let your answering machine serve you by collecting your calls. You can avoid running to the phone when it rings and you can sit down at a designated time to return calls. Solicitors will usually hang-up, if they do not get you live.

Have a holiday un-trimming party. Invite friends and family over to finish off the baked goods, serve cider and/or chocolate and put up holiday decorations.

Hope this gives you some tips to create a more joyful and less stressful holidays season this year.

If you would like more tips to help you Simplifying Your Holidays you may be interested in our booklet *Tips to Simplify Your Holidays*. Tom tomgoodwin@juno.com is a freelance writer that enjoys working with groups and individuals by writing press releases, tip booklets and more. Kimberly kimberlygoodwin@juno.com is a self-marketing consultant, speaker and author. She helps people Find Their Niche In Life & market their talents. You are invited to subscribe to Kimberly's FREE monthly personal success eNewsletter, MOMENTUM. Simply send e-mail to the autoresponder at momentumonline@infofree.com,SUBJECT=GDS.

Dear Bob: I have a 97 mercury with v8 under the hood. We live in the South and it get over 100 degrees here. When wife is aboard I use the air and it gets awful hot under the hood. I have a quirk that I raise the hood and leave the auto outside of the garage every time we return home. I figure that heat destroys a lot of things. So I believe I am doing the right thing to let this heat out from under the hood fast. This way the ignition wires and other things that heat destroys will last a few years more than usually. I am old enough not to have to buy another vehicle in my life time. Bob am I off my rocker or does this make sense to you?
Thanks.
A. C. in Shreveport La.

AC,
Sure, sounds like a logical thing to do, let the heat out! In NYC (Manhattan especially) I see the taxi cabs driving around with the hood open to the second latch. The also helps let the heat out, but I do not recommend driving around like that!

Good Luck!
Drive Safely!

Bob
The Auto Answer Man

Bob answers your auto questions. If you have a question for Bob just sent it to him at: AskBob@stretcher.com.

This summer I was very anxious to install Pergo Flooring in our den. I found it locally at Home Depot for $3.58 per square foot. This was apparently an "every day" price that was not subject to sales. I went on-line and after searching for some time I found Pergo at Ownens Carpet in Dalton Georgia. The price there was $2.79 per square foot with a $65.00 charge for shipping to my home in St. Louis, Mo. I printed their homepage and took it to my nearby Home Depot store. Home Depot has a policy that they will not only match a price but will discount a full 10% below the competitior's price. When I presented this information they were true to their word and reduced the price to $2.51 per square foot. While in the store I noticed that they also have a policy to take 10% off your first purchase when you open a Home Depot charge account, which I did. This reduced my cost to $2.26 a square foot or $1.32 below their normal price. This resulted in a $396.00 savings for the purchase of the 300 square feet that I needed.

(editor's note: Please send your 'Best Bargains' to Gary@Stretcher.com.)

TIPS, QUIPS, QUOTES AND QUESTIONS

With three kitties and some very nice new furniture, we are needing to get good scratching posts and cat furniture to keep our sanity and household intact, but I am really amazed at the prices of not-very-good kitty condos etc at the pet stores. I've found one do it yourself scratching post on the web, but want more! Any ideas on where to find detailed instructions for a do-it-yourself kitty condo? We do have quite a bit of imagination, but would like some info to work from first of all! Thanks.
Margaret

I am a second year graduate student who is interested in being frugal. However, I have to put my studies first and comparison shopping, cutting coupons, etc. takes a lot of time and energy. Any ideas on how to save money on a tight budget, tight time and little energy to devote to thriftiness? What are the big things that I can do to save money?
Thanks,
Angela

I have unfortunately gotten into some hefty debts with my credit cards. I currently have 5 credit cards totaling $20K in debt. I have tried to consolidate, and have moved from credit card to credit card whenever I can get the lower promotional rates, and have transferred balances until I am blue in the face. The promotional rates have all expired, and now I can't get another credit card because of excessive credit, excessive balances, etc. I pay about 2X the minimum amount each month, and can't afford too much more. How can I get out from under this mess?
Need help fast.
-- M.E. Please send your answers to: gary@stretcher.com. We'll include the best solutions in future issues.

I have a Macintosh, which limits you to very few shareware programs. Most of the large shareware programs are not available for the Mac. I have tried out all of the shareware program for recipes that are available for the Mac, and I wouldn't recommend any of them, unless you have File Maker Pro and just want a simple program to organize and print recipes that you type in yourself. (If you don't have File Maker Pro, this isn't very practical, since it costs several hundred dollars.)
If you have File Maker Pro already, there are a few recipe templates that will help you organize your recipes. I tried Computer Cuisine, The Computer Cookbook and Recipe Finder, and found them all very limited, you can type in your recipes and print them, but that's about all. However, they might give you a good place to start to create your own recipe program or template. Two hypercard programs are Amy's Recipes and Datachef, which both have the same limitations (no importing, no exporting, very little flexibility).
I use Mastercook, which is a commercial program. However, there is a new version coming out in the fall, and I have already seen the old version of Mastercook in bargain bins and at discount stores like Costco and B.J.'s for $10 or less. The Mac version and the PC version are on the same disk, so you don't have to worry about compatibility, and all of the various versions (Cooking Light, Deluxe, etc) have the same basic program, they just come with different recipes.
-- Karen W

In response to your inquiry about the shareware recipe programs, why spend the money? There are some really great sites on the internet that can be accessed for free! One of my personal favorites is The Internet Chef Online Magazine. There are literally hundreds of delicious recipes to be found at this site alone. Bon Appetit!
http://www.ichef.com/
-- D. P.

I too moved from the fast paced private sector to working for a large public university. The salary decrease was a shock. But I do love working with students so it all works out in the end (or so I keep reminding myself whenever I need to make a large purchase and must creatively budget for it.)
Working for a university does offer many fringe benefits that you don't get in the private sector. For example, my husband (who also works for the university) and I have full health coverage, eye care and dental. I rarely had such comprehensive coverage while I was in the private sector (or the premiums were priced out of sight.) We have a medical center at our university and as long as use university doctors are costs are minimal. I recently had surgery and since my doctor has privileges at the university hospital my cost was $0! The insurance picked up everything.
We have access to all the university concerts, plays, etc. usually at a discount because we work here. We can use the student rec center for free so we save in health club fees (and ultimately doctor's visits). We can take up to 10 credit hours of classes for free per quarter. My husband is working on a second degree and this time it's costing him nothing!
While the bottom line paycheck is significantly lower, factor in the free "extras" in a university position and you will see that your "pay" is much higher than you think.
-- Lisa N-W

I have changed my lifestyle two or three times. One of the main things I've discovered is that if we don't take care of the inner stress, it doesn't matter what physical changes we make. When I would move to a more rural or slower environment, within weeks I would be as busy as ever. My wonderfully perceptive daughter would say "Mom, it doesn't matter if you move to the slow lane, you always create your own fast lane".
I have taught in colleges and currently am a Director of a Business Development Center. I think your husband will like the academic atmosphere--however I have one challenge for you--not to discourage you, but to help prepare you. Colleges, all colleges, are notorious for gossip, backbiting, inner political warfare and territorialism. If anyone in your husband's department feels the least threatened by him, he will have to bear that. HOWEVER--if you stick with it, try to stay clear of the campus politics (some you have to be involved in), you will do fine. Often the amenities that come with the job make it all worth it. For you, try to find organizations, volunteer activities, etc. that are geared toward your interests. Usually there are lots of wonderful activities in a college town.
-- Carole. ed's note: you'll find more readers sharing their experiences of finding a slower paced lifestyle at http://www.stretcher.com/stories/980903a.htm.

I work at an espresso bar and have to wear khaki pants/shorts and boy do I ever get stains on them!!! I have found a stain remover that is really great.. It is called Zout Stain Remover. It is concentrated and it gets old stains out too. I heard about it from a friend and tried it out and it works!!
Gigi K.
Seattle, WA

In a quart canning jar, or old mayonnaise jar; I save all my old soap chips, then put them into the jar, and fill the jar up the rest of the way with ammonia. I let this sit with the lid on for about two weeks. This turns the soap chips into a gooey mixture. This mixture gets out grease stains, grass stains and other tough stains. My family swears by this goop!
-- Loretta C ed's note: more suggestions at http://www.stretcher.com/stories/980903b.htm.

Last week's issue of the Dollar Stretcher ezine had a question from a person who asked whether it was wiser to slow a car with a manual transmission by using the brake or the clutch. I would like to give another reason for people to use their brakes to slow their cars; it is very difficult sometimes to tell when a car is slowing when the driver is using his clutch; the brake lights aren't connected to the clutch! I drive in heavy traffic on the interstates around Nashville daily, and it can be annoying at the least, and dangerous when drivers ahead slow down by using the clutch.
-- Su F.
Nashville, TN

While your published article on scrapbooking is indeed a fun idea for a young person, it contained information that would be dangerous to the photos involved if photos were to be taken and placed in the scrapbook. Photos should never be placed in anything that is not photo-safe, like the book implied in the article. Regular paper contains acid that will attack the photos and eventually destroy them. Regular paper also contains lignin, a substance that will cause the paper itself to yellow, crumble and eventually deteriorate. Memorabilia should also never touch your photos, as it is usually made of regular paper products that are acidic and will attack the photos. Finally, the instructions list glue, glue stick and clear tape - all big no-no's for adhering photos to a page. Photo corners are acceptable, but again, only if they are the photo-safe kind. Same goes for the other photo adhesive options, and there are several kinds available that are safe to use.
If your readers want something that is not only fun to do, but will last for years to come so that all the hard work will not be lost, they would be much better advised to get a quality photo-safe scrapbook to store their memories in and perhaps to even take a class that teaches how to scrapbook in a safe way, not just the fun way. Even the best albums on the market are not that expensive, especially if you get a kid-sized book, and wouldn't you rather spend a *little* extra money and not have all the hard work you or your child did go down the drain in just a few years?
-- Melanie E.
Montgomery AL

I have found that college bookstores can be a great place to get really nice books. The bookstore orders textbooks for all the classes, and then conveniently organizes them by subject for you. If used textbooks are available, they sell those, usually almost half off. Some of the "used" books were clearly never even read by their previous owners! These books are usually hard back, high-quality, and on every possible subject. Not all of the books are the boring, dense things you remember from college. Lots of the English books will be "The Classics" and make good gifts for kids. This is an excellent place to find reference books and beautiful art books. There are even children's books and popular novels, since there are classes taught on those subjects at any major university. Even better, if you don't want to keep the books, you can read them and sell them back to the same store for anything from a few dollars to 80 per cent of what you paid.
They have very good sales at the end of semesters. Backpacks, t-shirts, and sweatshirts are often marked way down (maybe 75 per cent) because a new style will come out next season and the store needs to move the merchandise. These make good gifts for high school students, since college stuff is very "cool." And the end of the semester sales fall just in time for Christmas or graduation gift shopping! -- Emilie J. "poor" graduate student at Indian University

The boxes at the store, which my children seem to prefer to my 'stand-in-front-of-the-hot-stove' variety, never have enough for my hungry kids. But, I have discovered that adding up to nearly a cup of extra pasta does not change the flavor nor thin-out the cheese too much. This goes for all pasta-in-a-box things and saves $ over using two boxes.
Happy eating.
-- Merry ed's note: you'll find more reader's tips at http://www.stretcher.com/stories/980907t.htm

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