Sunday, August 4, 2019

Blanching Day

I cannot take credit for this as it is something I never even heard of before a friend told me about it but living frugally is about finding creative ways to stretch things as far as they can go. So I am always on the lookout for a new idea.

Blanching is a process used when you are going to freeze vegetables to preserve the flavor and nutrients. It is relatively simple but does require that you have freezer space, which I didn't have until I picked up a chest freezer on clearance.

You will need:

  • Freezer bags
  • Vegetables batched out for use in each meal 
  • Strainer
  • Pot
  • large bowel


  1. Boil Water
  2. Add a batch of vegetables to blanch
  3. Set timer for 5 minutes
  4. Drain after 5 minutes
  5. Put vegetables in ice-cold water to cool
  6. Once Cool put in freezer bags and freeze

Yes, it really is that simple. Today I am blanching Carrots & Potatoes.  For the visual folks:

Friday, August 2, 2019

It takes money to make money....

Once upon a time, not so long ago, I was selling insurance. I worked HARD on a very limited budget to bring in clients, and make some of my investment back from getting licensed, background checks, fingerprints, and the list goes on. I was putting in a mass amount of hours and energy and watching webinars, investing in systems that were supposed to make my business explode. It didn't. I worked, I slaved and I realized something had to give but I was still pushing forward because failing again wasn't an option.

As I was searching through more systems to spend money we didn't have to waste on, I came across a webinar where the guy bluntly said if you don't have the grand to drop on this system we don't want you, I am paraphrasing here obviously but it completely irritated me at the time. From my perspective of being burned, burned out and just ready to crawl in a dark hole, he was poor shaming. I didn't have a grand to blow on anything, we live frugally as we have one stable income, that's life for many people. In my opinion, this guy was a grade A A$$hole. 

A few days later my son fell sick, and my husband and I spent a week in the hospital with him. We were doing everything we could to stay positive that my son would pull through. He did, but not fully and we are still running back to Dr. Appointments and therapies. After the second hospital stay, anxiety and depression were at def-con 12. My world was collapsing, again. 

I spent a good six weeks just spinning my wheels and going through the motions of life, and then with a snap, at 4am my brain clicked. The A$$hole was right, I have studied the law of attraction in-depth for quite a long time. I have aligned myself with the universe, I was not at all living the life I wanted and I didn't have the money nor did I want to spend the money to pay for another system.

The final straw broke as my husband and I sat eating dinner and I mentioned that I could invest in this guy and try one more thing. My husband stared blankly at me, and said: "your heart's not in it". At that moment I felt all of the stress release from my body and I knew exactly what I needed to do. 

I needed to build M&K Ultra Marketing Services LLC to help others who feel stuck, miserable and just too damn poor to keep trying the "latest and greatest".  I decided right then and there to invest in myself and invest in others! Since then I have gotten several certifications in life and business coaching, as well as women empowerment, self-empowerment and the law of attraction. These were for ME, not to impress anyone. As my journey continues, I am honored to hold the hands of others through their own. 

The title of this posts represents a true statement. If you are going to be in business, you are going to need to invest something. Be that business cards, a domain, a website, marketing, etc. There is always a financial investment of some sort. It doesn't have to be a choice of paying utilities or buying something for the business. It can be done frugally, M&K Ultra Marketing Services LLC is living, breathing proof.

However, there is also an emotional, time and energy investment. People tend to forget about that part. My A$$hole statement for you to ponder as I close out this post is "If you're not willing to put the time, energy, blood, sweat and tears into your business and yourself, don't call me for help."