Flexible Spending Account and Health Savings Account Participants: Be Aware of Changes For 2011

We were surprised recently with an article in our newspaper about future changes for Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) scheduled for 2011.

For a variety of reasons, my husband and I chose a high deductible health insurance plan when I left my corporate job with insurance benefits and we needed to purchase individual health insurance. To coincide with our high deductible health insurance plan, we opened up a health savings account.

For those of you not familiar with Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA), they are accounts that allow Americans to pay for medical expenses with pretax dollars.

An HSA can be opened with a high-deductible insurance policy. The account holder can deposit pre-tax money into the account up to the yearly maximum of $6150 for a family and $3050 for an individual. This money can be used at any time for qualified medical expenses. Any money not used by the end of the year can continue to stay in the account and there are penalties and taxes if the money is withdrawn for non-medical uses.

With a FSA, an employer offers employees the ability to set aside pre-tax income into their account to be used for qualified medical expenses, but the money in the account must be used by the end of the year.

Welcome 2011

In years past, participants in these plans could use these accounts to purchase over-the-counter medicines, but that will no longer be the case for 2011. Things like cough, cold and flu remedies, pain relievers, allergy and sinus relievers, antibiotic products, baby rash creams are just a few examples of products that could be purchased in the past with these spending/savings accounts. But in 2011, if you want to purchase these products and use your spending/savings accounts, you will need a prescription from your doctor.

Some over the counter products can continue to be purchased without a prescription from your doctor, such as bandages, contact lens supplies, denture adhesives, first aid supplies, just to name a few.

I feel very fortunate that we don’t use too many over-the-counter remedies. But in the past, if I needed something like diaper cream, I purchased the product using our health savings account. I’m not so sure I will be calling my doctor requesting a prescription AND driving to her office to pick up the prescription for a $5 item. For me, the time involved just won’t make it worth purchasing the item with pre-tax money.

It remains to be seen how medical practitioners will deal with the request from their patients with these accounts. The article made it sound like a lot of doctors are not aware of this change and what could be an onslaught of phone calls.

It also suggested that many account holders are not aware yet of this change. And quite frankly, if I hadn't read the article in the newspaper we would not have known about it. We have yet to receive anything from the bank of our health savings account.

And what about the pharmacies? I used to be able to purchase an over-the-counter product anywhere it was sold and use my HSA. With a prescription, does that mean I can only get those items at a pharmacy after showing my script to a pharmacist? Does this all sound time-consuming to you too?

Between now and December 31, 2010, if you have the funds in your spending/savings accounts, you might want to stock up on the over-to-counter products that you use regularly. This will save yourself the aggravation of asking your doctor for a prescription and you will still be able to use your tax-advantage account. In 2011, you will have to ask yourself if it will be worth your time to seek a prescription from your doctor for a simple over-the-counter remedy just so that you can use your spending/savings account.

Hopefully some more information will be coming soon from our employers or banks. When I find an official list from the IRS, I will publish the link for you.

Do you have a flexible spending account or health savings account? Did you know about this change?

Disclaimer: I am not a financial or insurance professional. If you have questions and concerns about your Flexible Spending Account or Health Savings Account, contact your employer or administrator of your account.

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Freeze Your Garden Produce Now and You'll Be Thanking Yourself Later

The summer harvest is underway and I am starting to get over-loaded with some vegetables from my garden, our CSA and from the gardens of friends and family. All of this wonderful produce at the height of its flavor needs to be preserved so that we can enjoy it later in the year.

I don’t do any canning, but I have found success with freezing a lot of produce from our garden. I was so paranoid about wasting the produce because we can’t eat it fast enough that I spent a recent afternoon washing, chopping and bagging vegetables so that I can freeze for future use.

Green beans

I grew purple green beans this year as an experiment. My girls love them and we have been eating them for dinner quite a bit, but I’m getting a little tired of the beans, so I am freezing the rest for a later date. Beans must be blanched before they are frozen.

• Wash
• Trim the ends and cut beans into small pieces
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
• Have a bowl of ice water ready.
• Carefully put the beans in to the water and boil for 3 minutes.
• Strain and transfer beans to ice water for at least a minute to cool down
• Strain and lay out on cookie sheet and stick the pan in the freezer for an hour or so. This is optional, but it makes it easier to pull out smaller portions of the beans.
• Place beans in freezer bag and keep in freezer.

Parsley

I started having success with growing parsley, after we put a bunny fence around the garden to keep the critters away.

• Wash
• Dry well
• Remove the leaves from the stems and chop the leaves. Stems can be discarded.
• Place in a freezer bag.
• In the off season, break off what you need.
• I also wash, dry and bag whole sprigs to use in my homemade chicken stock.

Peppers

I have only had one measly pepper so far, but my neighbor gave me 7 green peppers from her garden.

• Wash
• Dry
• Chop
• Place in freezer bag. I lay the bag flat and try to get out as much air out as possible. I just break off what I need in the fall and winter for casseroles and soups when I turn the oven back on.

Onions – See peppers

Spinach/Swiss Chard

Sometimes I get more spinach and Swiss chard from our CSA than I can handle. I simple clean, dry and freeze whole leaves in a freezer bag. The spinach and chard crumbles when it is frozen, so when I make smoothies, I break off a handful and throw it in the blender. My kids don’t have a clue.

Tomatoes

My grape tomatoes and a few Romas are the only ones ready thus far. Just enough for snacking and salsa. My bigger tomatoes haven’t started to turn red yet. I have frozen clean whole Roma tomatoes in the past. The skins slide right off when the tomatoes thaw. You can then chop and add to soups and sauces.

Zucchini

I have been having trouble with my own zucchini plant, but I have 7 zukes from our CSA. How could I possibly use up 7 zucchinis before they go bad? I love my Grilled Summer Squash, but not every night of the week and I am not about to turn the oven on to bake when it is 95+ degrees outside. When I saw this tip on A Latte' with Ott, A, I knew what I had to do. I hand shredded the zukes, because it didn’t occur to me to use the food processor until I was almost done. I bagged in 2 cup portions.

Do you use your freezer to preserve your garden harvest? What vegetables or fruit have you been freezing?


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This post is linked to:

• Tuesday Garden Party at An Oregon Cottage
• Works for Me Wednesday at We are that Family
• Frugal Friday at Life as Mom
• Finer Things Friday at Amy's Finer Things
• Making Dollars out of Change at Madame Deals
• Thrifty Thursday at Coupon Teacher
  
  
  
  

Grilled Salmon with Peach Mango Salsa

I love to cook. I also love to serve my family a 5-star restaurant quality meal right on our own patio and for a quarter of the 5-star restaurant price.

While we love salmon, it sometimes doesn't fit into our budget. I have discovered in the past that when salmon is on sale super cheap, it can be super fishy tasting. This salmon fillet was on sale for about $5.99/lb and it was farm-raised.

The end result was a 5-star restaurant tasting dish. This fillet wasn't fishy. I didn't over-cook and dry out the salmon. The salsa made with local, fresh, in season peaches was a delicious topping for the fish.

Grilled Salmon with Peach Mango Salsa

• olive oil
• 1 lb salmon, divide into 3-4 inch wide fillets. Keep skin on.
• seasonings - I used a Fiesta seasoning from Tastefully Simple. You could just use salt and pepper.
• 2 peaches, peeled, pit removed and chopped into small pieces
• 1 mango, chopped into small pieces. Click on the link to find out how to cut a mango. Instead of mango, you can just cut up 1-2 more peaches.
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• juice of one lime
• fresh parsley, about 1-2Tbsp. chopped
• a dash of salt

1. Combine the peaches, mango, red onion, red pepper, lime juice, parsley, dash of salt. Set aside in the refrigerator
2. Heat grill to high.
3. Brush both sides salmon with olive oil and season.
4. Place fillets on grill skin side down. Close lid and grill for 3-4 minutes.
5. Flip the salmon.
6. Grill another 2-3 minutes.
7. Serve the delicious salsa on top of the grilled salmon.
8. Enjoy!

Please share your favorite grilling recipes.

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This post is linked to:

• Mouthwatering Monday at A Soutern Fairytale
• $5 Dinner Mom
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace
• Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff
• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
• Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop
• Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum
• Ultimate Recipe Swap at Life as MOM

Introducing the Re-Design of Family Balance Sheet

I can just hear some of you..."well it's about time". Trust me I was saying it as well.

I made the decision to stick with Blogger for several reasons, the first being that I know Blogger and a re-design wouldn't affect my time as much as a total switch to Wordpress would be. Maybe some day, but right now I'm staying.

I always knew what I liked and didn't like, but I have zero talent or expertise in web design, so I made the decision to hire someone and I am not disappointed. I worked with Jackie at Memories by Design and I am very pleased with my new design.

If you are reading this through your email subscription or reader, please click through to my site and check out my re-design.

Also, please do me a favor and check out my new Facebook page. And while you're there, become a fan and 'like' my page. I would very much appreciate it.

Thanks for reading Family Balance Sheet. It has been fun getting to know all of you through your comments and your sites as well.


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Square Foot Gardening Update: Patience is a Virtue

Aside from my purple green beans, some herbs and a few grape tomatoes, I haven't harvested much yet. To say that I am being impatient is an understatement.

Every evening when I go out to the garden to water, I am teased by the fruit and vegetables that are exploding at this time of year. But unfortunately everything is still in the growth stage and I have a few more weeks to go.

I can taste the homemade salsa or BLT sandwiches right now.

I planted cantaloupe for the first time last year and it was the sweetest and most delicious melon I have ever tasted. I can't wait for these lovely melons to ripen up a bit.

I pulled a few carrots, just to see how big they were...too soon.

This zucchini plant has skipped over a 2 foot pathway and entered into another boxed garden. The funny thing is that it was a volunteer from my compost pile. I have never grown zucchini, so it must be from the CSA. I compost all of our vegetable and fruit scraps and this plant appeared coming out of the compost barrel early in the season. I replanted it in a new bed that we built this year and it is taking over my entire garden.

The problem is that there are a ton of flowers, but not a single zucchini yet. I don't know if this is normal.

And to make matters worse, I found some flowers on the ground. I'm not sure if this is the work of critters that feast in my yard or if these flowers fell off naturally.

How is your garden growing? Are you practicing a lot of patience right now too?

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This post is linked to:

• Tuesday Garden Party at An Oregon Cottage
• Grow. Eat. Save. at $5 Dinners
  

Grilled Peaches with Homemade Whipped Cream

Peach season in under way in our area and I have been overcome with a new food addiction...local, fresh, ripe peaches.

I bought several pounds recently and I wanted to try something new. I referred to my cookbook, Bobby Flay's Grill It! to find out how to grill peaches.

I like easy and fast recipes and grilled peaches make for a perfect easy and fast dessert. And please don't deny yourself the pleasure of adding homemade whipped cream on top. Ice cream would taste good too, but the homemade whipped cream makes this simple dessert decadent and amazing.

Grilled Peaches with Homemade Whipped Cream

• as many peaches as you need, halved and pitted, but not too ripe that they fall apart
• olive or canola oil
• cinnamon
• Click on the link for the recipe for Homemade Whipped Cream

1. Heat your clean grill.
2. Brush the cut side of each peach with oil.
3. Place the peaches cut side down on the grill. My grill was about 400 degrees when I put them on the rack. Close lid and grill for 2 minutes.

4. Turn the peaches over. Close lid and grill for 4 more minutes. My grill hit about 450 degrees at it's highest point. After 4 minutes, remove from the grill. The skins of the peaches slid off as I was removing from grill.


5. Top with homemade whipped cream and sprinkle with cinnamon.

6. Enjoy what could become your most favorite summer dessert!

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This post is linked to:

• Mouthwatering Monday at A Southern Fairytale
• $5 Dinners
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace
• Tuesdays at the Table at All of the Small Stuff
• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
• Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum
• Amy's Finer Things
• Vegetarian Foodie Friday at Breastfeeding Moms Unite
• Food on Friday at Ann Kroeker
• Prairie Story BBQ Recipe Swap
  

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Family Camping...and A Lesson Learned

Apparently we broke a cardinal rule of camping this past weekend: Don’t leave food unattended.

My family and I set out on an adventure. We went camping for the first time to a real campsite for 3 days and 2 nights. We have slept in our tent before at my grandmother’s summer cottage, but we always had the cottage and it’s amenities as backup.

With the menu planned and the van (& cargo carrier) packed, we headed forty minutes away to a campsite nestled in a wooded area and very close to an amusement park.

Aside from leaving my sleeping bag and our blow up mattresses at home, the weekend was looking to be a fun one on Friday night as we fell asleep. But at 6:30 am Saturday it had started to rain and it continued to pour until 6:30 that evening.

We moped around the tent in the morning, but after lunch we headed to an indoor children’s gym with several ball pits and a huge jungle gym. On the way back to the campsite, we stopped for dinner as it was still raining and I was in no mood to grill in the rain.

But by the time we got back to the campsite, the rain had stopped and the campground was abuzz as everyone was anxious to get outside.

As my husband was starting the fire, I noticed something in the corner of my eye.

“Well that does not look right”, I thought to myself.

Apparently we left some crackers…and bread…and okay, we left a blueberry pie on our picnic table that was just too tempting for some local critters. And rather than unzip the tent like a civilized human would do, the critters ate through our brand new screened in tent and feasted like kings.

It was a mistake that screams “newbie”, but it was a lesson learned.

As we were cleaning up and putting away our gear when we got home, I noticed a little present that a critter left for me in one of our plastic cups…the aftermath of all of that pie. I guess he wanted to remind me who was the king in his forest.

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This post is linked to:

• Works for Me Wednesday at We are that Family
• Finer Things Friday at Amy's Finer Things

Garden Harvest: Purple Green Beans

Green beans are not my favorite vegetable. At the dinner table when I was little, I would trade my green beans for my brother's fish. Of course, when my parents weren't looking. I disliked green beans and he loathed the haddock that my mother prepared.

Fast forward some 30 years and I have acquired a taste for green beans. They still aren't my favorite green vegetable, but I tolerate them much better now. Mostly because I want to set a healthy example for my kids. So far they aren't trading their food yet and have no problem eating green beans.

I have two little girls who love the color purple. I thought this would be fun to plant in the garden. The beans are a pretty shade of dark purple, but change to green when cooked. At that point the kids are no longer impressed.

I decided to blanch and freeze these beans. We received a big bag of beans last week from our CSA that still needed to be eaten. These garden beans needed to be harvested and they are now in my freezer for later use.

This is the most that I have harvested so far. The garden has lots of green tomatoes, a few peppers starting to take off, tons of carrots that should be done soon, 3 melons growing rapidly and a zucchini plant that is going to take over my whole neighborhood.

How is your garden growing? What have you harvested so far? Let us know in the comments.

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This post is linked to:

• Tuesday's Garden Party at An Oregon Cottage

Summer Grilling Recipe Exchange and Delusions of Campsite Grandeur

Last week, I had the brilliant idea that for today's grilling post I would write about our campsite grilling menu from this past weekend's camping trip. The idea came to me as I was planning the food for our camping trip to an actual camp ground. We have camped in our tent before at my grandmother's cottage, but never at an actual campground. This trip needed to be planned out, so that it would go smoothly and we didn't forget anything.

The menu was set and it was going to be easy, but everything was going to be done on the grill.

The van was packed and even though we were only going to be gone for 2 nights it looked like we were leaving for a month.

We arrived at the campsite and set up our tents as quickly as possible. Because we ate a late lunch, we just made some sandwiches for dinner, so that we could get to the nearby amusement park. When the park closed, we headed back to the site and my husband made a fire. We snacked on s'mores and went to bed.

At 6:30 am, my husband and I woke up to rain beating down on our tent. Not just any rain, but pouring rain. And it continued to rain for the next 12 hours. I can hear some of you ask, 'did you listen to the weather report?". Yes, we did and the words 'chance of rain' do not indicate to me 12 hours of rain. We were only 40 minutes from home and our hometown got barely a rain drop.

Needless to say it was a loooong day. And our plans to spend the day at the amusement park were obviously squashed. And I was not about to stand at a grill in the pouring rain. I was in no mood to cook...and take pictures.

We will go camping again. The girls didn't complain one bit...just mommy. But by the end of the weekend, I adjusted my attitude and we had a delightful weekend together as a family. I will be writing a post about the whole weekend later in the week.

I do not have a grilling recipe today, but I would love to read your favorite grilling recipes. If you are a camper, I would especially love to read about your favorite campsite grilling recipes either in the link-up or in the comments. What do you eat when you go camping?

Please share your favorite grilling recipes with us. Thanks for participating and I look forward to reading your recipes.

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6 Ways to Conserve Water and Save Money This Summer

In the past, summer time could do some damage to our water bill. The biggest increase in our water consumption comes from watering our garden. We rely on the food that we grow to help lower our food bill, but I don’t want to save money on my groceries only to increase the money spent on our water bill.

As the summer is heating up, the kids love to cool off in the sprinkler. I can hardly say no, when sweat is rolling down their sweet faces and it is too much fun watching them laugh and play in the yard. By the end of the day they are filthy so there is surely a bath at bedtime. During the rest of the year, I can usually get by with bathing them about twice a week.

I am always looking for ways to conserve water and save money on our bill year round, but even more so in the summer.

1. This is my fourth spring/summer with my rain barrel. Our county’s conservation district promoted these rain barrels years ago for $25. There is now a 2 year wait list and the cost has increased to $55. I got mine just in time. A few years ago, you didn’t see rain barrels much, but many stores now carry them. Store-bought rain barrels can set you back between $100-$200. It could take some time until it pays for itself from the water saved. But, if you are a do-it-yourselfer, this could be a great project to try. In the past 2 years, I rarely had to rely on the water hose, but we haven’t had rain in a few weeks, and my barrel has now dried up. This is the first time this has happened to me. Although when it does rain, it fills up very quickly and I sometimes wish I had room for a second barrel.




2. Use water collected from dehumidifier to water your garden and flower pots. In the summer, our basement gets very damp and musty, so we run a dehumidifier. It fills up quickly on sweltering days. Since it has been so dry here, that water will come in handy when watering my plants.


3. When waiting for the hot water to heat up from the faucet, trap it in a jug or bucket and use it to water your garden and flower containers.

4. Use the water from steaming vegetables and corn on the cob to water your garden.

5. Choose drought tolerant plants for your landscape. This is something we considered when we designed our front lawn landscape. A quick google search will help you find a list of these plants for your garden zone or ask the staff at your local garden nursery.

6. Water your garden in the early morning or evening to avoid evaporation from the mid-day sun.

We are heading into a sweltering week. My rain barrel is dried up, so I will be relying on #2 - #6 to get me by until the next good rain.

How do you conserve water during the summer?

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This post is linked to:

• Works for Me Wednesday at We are that Family
• Making Dollars out of Change at Madame Deals
• Thrift Thursday at The Coupon Teacher
• Frugal Friday at Life as Mom

Grilled Garlic Lemon Shrimp

This past winter, probably sometime around the Superbowl, I sent my husband to the grocery store to get some bread.

He came home with two 2 lb bags of frozen shrimp, "they were buy one get one free", he says.

"What are you going to do with them?", I asked.

"Put them in the freezer", he replied as he walked away.

By July, I still had one bag left in the freezer, so I decided to grill the shrimp. I had never grilled shrimp before, but it was very easy and we really enjoyed this dish.

Grilled Garlic Lemon Shrimp

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• zest from one lemon
• 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2 lbs shrimp, thawed, de-veined and peeled
• bamboo skewers

1. Soak bamboo skewers for 15 - 20 minutes

2. Mix together the first 6 ingredients and stir into the shrimp. Marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

3. Stick the shrimp onto the skewers. Discard any remaining marinade.

4. Preheat the grill to about 400 - 450 degrees.

5. Place the shrimp skewers on the grill and cover. Grill 2 minutes. Flip and grill another 2 minutes or until opaque.

I served this with some homemade coleslaw and fresh fruit.

Enjoy!

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This dish is linked to:

• Mouthwatering Monday at A Southern Fairytale
• $5 Dinners
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace
• Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff
• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
• Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum
• Ultimate Recipe Swap at Life as MOM.
  

Kale Chips...Yes, You Read That Right!

We love potato chips. No, let me re-phrase that. WE LOVE POTATO CHIPS! There, that somewhat emotes our love for potato chips. But our problem is that we can't stop at one chip or two chips, or 20 chips. We have to eat the whole bag or we are not happy.

So how does kale, that leafy green, enter into this picture? We received a bunch of kale through our CSA last week. I have yet to plant it myself since we get it through our CSA, but I might do so next year.

I just wasn't in the mood for soup or a casserole, which is what I normally do with kale in the fall, winter or spring. But soup in the summer time just doesn't interest me.


I have read about kale chips on many different blogs, but never gave it a try. Everyone raved about kale chips. " They taste just like potato chips" chirped the food blog world.

So I gave it a go.

Kale Chips

• one bunch kale
• olive oil
• salt
• Parmesan - optional
• or any other spice or herb that floats your boat

1. Remove the thick stems and center ribs.

2. Rinse the remaining leaves and dry well. A salad spinner comes in handy if you have one.

3. Cut or rip the leaves into small pieces.

4. Coat with olive oil, and sprinkle salt, Parmesan or your favorite herb.

5. Lay flat on a rimmed baking sheet.


6. Cook at 300 degrees for 30 minutes or until your desired crispiness.

7. Remove from oven. Wait until cool enough for you to eat. Eat your first kale chip.

8. You might hear yourself saying, "OMGoodness, I can't believe how much this sounds and crunches like potato chips."

9. Dare yourself to eat just one.

10. Enjoy! These are tasty and they do taste like kale, but sound a lot like potato chips. I will definitely make again and dry some different spice combinations. Be adventurous!

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This post in linked to:

• $5 Dinners ~ Grow. Eat. Save.
• Meat Free Monday at Happier than A Pig in Mud
• Real Food Wednesday at Kelly The Kitchen Kop
• Mouthwatering Monday at A Southern Fairytale
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays at Blessed with Grace
• Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff
• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
• Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum