Conquer Your Fears and “Live to Give” Webcast

Thomas Nelson Author and Hoops of Hope founder, Austin Gutwein, to host September 6 online event to focusing on themes his latest release, Live to Give.
On September 6 at 8 PM EDT, Austin Gutwein will be hosting a live Facebook web event to encourage participants to conquer their fears and use their talents to help others. The webcast will center on the themes Gutwein writes about in his latest release “Live to Give: Letting God Turn Your Talents into Miracles” (Thomas Nelson/August, 2012). At the conclusion of the webcast, the winners of a month-long social media fueled “Get and Give” contest will be announced, including the winner of a Kindle Fire and $250 donated to the winner’s charity of choice.
Join Austin on the evening of Thursday, September 6th as he shares about his own experiences and encourages others to conquers their fears and “live to give”. Austin will also be taking audience questions and interacting with participants. PLUS – there will be several “Live to Give” giveaways – books, gift certificates and much more! RSVP today and tell your friends.
Based on the John 6 story of Jesus feeding the 5000, in “Live to Give” Gutwein challenges his readers that regardless of age and talent, God can use them to make a difference. Even though God could take care of everything Himself and doesn’t really need our help, He desperately WANTS us to help Him care for others. Gutwein walks young people through discovering and embracing their unique God-given strengths and abilities, then figuring out how to use those talents to help others. Sometimes doing that takes a leap of faith on our part, and often becoming fearless in the process.
More about Austin: At eighteen years old, Gutwein speaks with wisdom and has the experience to reinforce his message. When Austin was just nine years old, he watched a video that showed children in Africa who had lost their parents to AIDS. Gutwein realized these kids weren’t any different from him—except they were suffering. Feeling called to help, he took his love of basketball and decided to shoot free throws to raise money for orphans in Zambia. On World AIDS Day in 2004, he shot 2,057 free throws to represent the 2,057 kids who would be orphaned during his day at school. Through sponsorship from parents and friends, Gutwein raised over $3,000 that day to give hope to eight orphans in Zambia.
Over the past eight years, Gutwein’s efforts have created Hoops of Hope, the largest free throw marathon in the world. With an estimated 40,000 people in more than 25 countries participating, Hoops of Hope has raised more than $2.5 million to build schools, medical clinics, dormitories for orphanages, and the only computer lab in Zambia.
Enter to win a Kindle Fire and have $250 donated to your favorite charity. Click for the banner for details and entry or visit http://litfusegroup.com/blogtours/13528976/livetogive.

Learn more about Austin and Hoops of Hope at www.AustinGutwein.com and www.HoopsOfHope.org.

Freezer Meals... {Tips, Reipes and more!}

Quite a few months ago a friend and I tackled the Once A Month Cooking method!  And well, the first time it cut my grocery bill by about $250.  The next month cut it in half!!!  Now I am not a pro at this, and still have a lot to learn, but I thought I would share some tips with you all!

First, find a friend to do it with.   Look for someone who you can endure stressful situations with, you have about the same family sizes, and you sorta have the same tastes in food.  (We learned from experience that it is way way cheaper and easier to do the same recipes!!!)

 

Second, get your hands on some Once a Month Cooking cookbooks!  You may not use their meal plans, or all the recipes, but just by going through them and trying out a few of the steps and recipes you will get an idea for what you can and cannot do! {Like potatoes are not the best freezer items...}

Third, make sure you have freezer space!  Yes it is such a great thing to have 30 meals all ready and done for a month, but if you do not have the adiquate space to put them, then, well maybe a 2 week cooking plan works better!

Fourth, find a bulk food store!  We started at Costco, but now are almost 100% shopping at Cash and Carry, a bulk store where a lot of resturants and caterers get their foods.  You will be buying a huge can of tomatoes for a lot less, where as Costco is many smaller cans at yes, cheaper than the grocery store, but still more expensive than the Cash and Carry.

Fifth, funding!  This is a big one.  Especially if you are set up to shop once a week.  {My husband gets paid weekly so this was something that we have to work on...}  The first months expenses will be tougher than say the next month because you will have saved for the following months...  The first time we were able to do it was after taxes...  When we quit for a while, it was hard to put aside that little bit each week while buying groceries... {I hope this makes sense}.  But once you get going, you will save more and stress less! 

Sixth, plan ahead!  This is a huge one!  Go through your freezer and your pantry, see what you have and what you don't.  There is nothing like getting to cooking day to realize you don't have any chili powder or flour.  I plan on one day, when I actually have a decent pantry, having an inventory list for the freezer, the pantry, the cupboards.  So I know with a glance what I have and don't have!  Take the time to go through cookbooks, make a calendar of meals and write out all the ingredients you will need!  And yes you may need 30 onions!  It does seem huge when you sit it all down, but you are cooking for a month, so it will be a big list! 

OK, so now that you have done all that stuff, spend a few days looking at cookbooks, browsing blogs, search pinterest {I have a few pinned about freezer cooking}.  Think about what your family likes to eat, how they eat, what the schedules allow for.  Do you need meals that can be eaten quickly or do you have a little more time for dinner?  Do you like elaborate step by step cooking or do you just want to throw everything in a crockpot and be done?  If you enjoy cooking, don't worry!  You can still do your monthly cooking, and enjoy making dinner every night!  You will just do all the prep work ahead of time.  If you don't like cooking, crockpot/casseroles can all be assembled ahead of time. 

More in the next few days...