Bargain Hunting Wife

3-2-1 - NO BLOG!

2009-01-15T05:27:00.000-08:00

Thats right, my blogging days as Mrs. Bargain Hunting Wife are coming to an end! I can't write 2 blogs, heck, I can barely write 1 blog. And while I'm good at using coupons and finding deals, I'm horrible at writing them up. This blog causes me stress because I feel like its never good enough. So I'm not going to worry about it any more.

If you are my single faithful reader (shout out to Brooke!), you can still follow my happenings at www.xanga.com/firewillconsume. I've had that blog since I was in collage and let me tell you, some of the drama that unfolded in 2006 is pretty juicy. So if you are craving a soap opera, start in April 2006 and see what happens.

I'll still follow your blogs and comment, but I'll use my joint google account, so if you see Brent & Katie leaving you a comment, rest assured, its not a crazy stalker. Its me!

Love to ya all!
Kate

Menu Planning Monday!

2009-01-12T10:59:00.000-08:00

Last weeks' menu went off well, lets see what this week has in store.

Yesterday I made the crock-pot ladies Buffalo Chicken Soup. It was spicy but so good! I put in together in the morning and then around 8 pm we came home and dinner was done and delicious. Love that kind of cooking!

Monday: NOTHING!! Its our Night Out For Ladies at church, so Hubby is having guys over for a game of Risk (snooze). I gave him $10 towards pizza or whatever they get.

Tuesday: Chicken, Broccoli, Rice casserole. I'm getting my hair done (!!!) so Hubby will be cooking this, I made it last month and froze it, so its pop it in and we'll eat when I get home!

Wednesday: A car meal! Hopefully leftover casserole or it will be a sandwich.

Thursday: Another car meal! Probably Tuna Mac.

Friday: A real meal! But I can't think that far ahead :(

Things I love Thursday...er...Friday

2009-01-09T07:21:00.001-08:00

A day late but who cares. I love my Garmin Forerunner 50 every day of the week!! I have been lusting over a Garmin for some time now. I love running but have no way to keep track of my stats! Outdoor runs meant either retracing a route with my car or trying to remember where it was I ran and using mapmyrun.com to figure the distance. But I still had no way to know how far I was running as I ran, my time, pace, heart rate or mile splits. ARGH! To a runner these are the world.

So I started checking out more running blogs and discovered something called Garmin. Isn't Garmin a GPS system. Oh it is and more! The Garmin Forerunner 205, 305 and 405 are GPS enabled, my Garmy 50 is not. Why you may ask? Well because during frigid, slick winter I run on a treadmill in our basement that doesn't keep track of stats. The Forerunner 50 comes with a foot pod to track your distance (like a much better pedometer).

Since this was out of our price range for Christmas gifts, Hubby got his parents and brother to chip in and make my wish come true. I seriously almost wet myself when I opened the box and saw Garmy in all her glory. He even got me the optional heart rate monitor *squeal* I then proceeded to spend the rest of Christmas Day with Garmy and the booklet getting everything set up.

Its an awesome gift and it makes my running so much more fun and motivating since I can always try and beat myself. The worst part? Instantly knowing that I'm not as fast or haven't ran as far as I hoped. Ugh, what do you mean I've only ran 3 miles? I THINK I'M DYING!!!

Hubby and I after I finished a race. I finished 3rd overall and 2nd in my age group. It was a small race.

Hubby and I a few hours later at his buddy's wedding. Hubby was an usher. Look how well we clean up!

Head over to the Diaper Diaries to check out what other bloggers love!

Menu Planning Monday

2009-01-05T13:14:00.000-08:00

It is Menu Planning Monday and I'm once again doing this! I tried not doing it and it was crazy and resulted in getting pizza for dinner way more than I care to admit. This week is busy, so a couple dinners will be eaten in the car. For more menu plans and recipes, check out Laura at the Org Junkie!

Monday: Tuna Casserole and apples. This is eaten in the car between work and the Servent Leader meeting at church.

Tuesday: Chili and corn bread. I'm going to make the chili meatless since beans are so high in protien and are frugal. Hopefully the corn bread will soften the blow for my meat loving hubby!

Wednesday: Another dinner in the car between work and Wednesday Night church. Hopefully it is leftover chili!

Thursday: Another dinner in the car between work and dodge ball. Not sure yet, probably a sandwich and then a snack when we get home.

Friday: A real dinner, at home, around the table!!! *squeals in delight* I think that beef tips n gravy over mashed potatoes sounds pretty good to me.

Tuna Casserole (this was SO frugal!)
Make 1 box of mac n cheese (bought when on sale B3G3). Stir in a tin/pack of tuna (used $1off Q, paid $0.08!!) and 1/2 bag of frozen veggies. Stir well and heat through.

Two on the Town

2009-01-02T07:11:00.000-08:00

Hubby and I used some of our Christmas Money to purchase a Two on the Town card! The card was $20 and contains TONS of offers and savings! We literally only have to use it twice and we'd save more than the cost of the card.

We are looking forward to date nights using the Buy One Get One Free offers from various resturants, reduced hotel stays, BOGOF movie tickets and Hubby is SO excited about the BOGOF golf offers. He already had the calender out and was trying to schedule golf outings.

When I was younger my sisters and I would frequently chip in (when you are 13, 10 and 7, $20 is a HUGE amount) and get this card for our parents as a Christmas gift.

Not sure if other areas have these cards, but they would be a great thing to look into for super savings and fun in 2009!!

See Ya Later 2008!

2008-12-31T11:22:00.000-08:00

We're having a New Year's Party over at the Roost. Head on over to check out other people's walk through the past year.

We started off 2008 by impulsively painting our living room green. Not the green I had planned on it, but hey, it works!

Next up was my birthday. Hubby planned a day of surprised that included my sister and our friend from Texas. My gift was a heart shaped locket with my married monogram on it.

The highlight of the year was our wedding! Here are Hubby and I both grinning like maniacs because we just couldn't keep the joy inside.

We got tickets to a Detroit Tiger's game as a wedding present, so Hubby had to make an orange and blue sombraro to wear the game. We had a blast!

In July I got first place and set a course record in the Athena division of a local 5k run. I was so excited!

Here we are at Hubby's State Championship Bump n Race. He literally raced the wheels right off the car!

Top Row: Sister Emily, Me, Sister Hannah. Bottom Row: Great Grandma and Grandma. This picture sums up the amount of time and energy I put into creating better bonds in our family.

Wine tasting with friends. This was a big deal for me because I'm not super social around people I don't know well and these are Hubby's friends. But I got along with them very well (maybe it was the wine) and now we consider ourselves close friends.

We adopted a new cat into our family. Here is Red peeking in the window, watching me cook.

Jon, Me and Hubby around the Christmas Tree. Jon is Hubby's BFF and lived with us for 2 months until he moved to Canada.

Coupons & Deals!

2008-12-30T12:20:00.000-08:00

Last night I went through my coupon box and pulled out everything that expires on December 31, 2008. I was gripped by a moment of panic, OH MY GOSH, I can't let ALL these coupons go to waste! Then I calmed down and picked out the ones for stuff I could get for cheap/free or that I needed the product.

Today I went to Wal-Mart to pick up some of those items. I had 4 $1 off coupons and 1 buy one get one free coupon for Starkist Tuna Packets. They were $1.08 each, so for $1.40, I got 6 packets of Starkist Tuna! They also had South Beach Granola Bars with Protien on roll back for $2, perfect since I had a $2 coupon! I also snagged 3 free packs of Kotex by using 3 $1 off coupons.

I also stopped at McDonald's to redeem my coupon for a free mocha, no purchase necessary. I ordered at the drive through and said I had a coupon for a free one. There was a pause then the employee said the machine was broken, so I couldn't have my free mocha. Hmmm, is this suspecious to anyone or am I just paranoid??

My last stop was Walgreens where I got a Santa hat for $0.79 and the FAR Orajel Cold Sore medicine.

Blessed!

2008-12-23T07:05:00.000-08:00

Andrea has a great post about her financial goals of 2008. She writes about how God has blessed her family and references the Loaves and Fish story. And it got me thinking about the HUGE ways God has blessed Hubby and I in the past year.

- God provided Hubby a job 2 days before our wedding! We lived 2.5+ hours apart and were facing either a long commute or seeing each other only a couple times per week. Adding to our concern is that Hubby has a bachelor's in Automotive Management and we live in Michigan where automotive jobs are shrinking. But Hubby got a call on May 1st that he was hired and could start on May 12th, allowing time for our honeymoon.

- God "fixed" our chest freezer! Our chest freezer broke this summer and we were bummed. We had made a financial commitment to our History Makers campaign at church and the payment was due. It was a tough decision but we were determined to honor God above all and made the payment. The next Hubby went to haul the freezer to the dump and it was running! All he had to do was switch out the outlet and it is as good as new!

- God healed me! The recap is that after being diagnosed with outrageously high blood pressure and aortic stenosis, the cardiologist thought I'd need a aortic valve replacement. Hubby and I claimed verses of healing and prosperity for my life and had our pastor pray over me. After a procedure to determine the extent of stenosis and timeline for valve replacement, the cardiologist declared me 100% okay, nothing wrong and no evidence I ever had a problem.

- God repaired Hubby's ring! Hubby snapped his Tungsten Carbide wedding band in half last week. Yes, that is one of the strongest metals and no, I didn't marry The Hulk. It was a freak thing but it broke and we didn't want to shell out $200+ for a new one. Hubby met with the store manager and they contacted the manufacturer. The manufacturer is replacing his wedding band for free!

- God has built our savings! Last month we were able to save $1,500!! Hubby and I both work full time and not in big money industries. We don't feel deprived and we still get to go out for dinner on occasion or do something else fun! We have worked to lower our expenses, increase our coupon usage and be faithful in tithing and giving. Its work but being a steward of God's Bounty is not a burden, it is a privilege!!

- God has done more! I KNOW there are more things that God has done in our lives from protecting us on bad roads to keeping up healthy. God is so amazing at blessing His children. I am so thankful to my Father for his wonderful gifts of provision that he has richly poured out on my life. Thank you Jesus!

Not feeling the love!

2008-12-19T10:34:00.001-08:00

The other morning I made a mad dash into Wal-Mart for some stocking stuffers. I scoured the travel sized items and found as many coupons as I could that DID NOT state "excludes travel sizes" or whatever. So I loaded the items into my cart, including a single pack of Tide for $0.97 (perfect for our laundry mat using friend). I had a $1 off coupon that did not state any exclusions, it even went as far as to read "Good on any size". I approached the U-Scan and set to work scanning my goodies and my coupons. Everything was okay until I got to the tide coupon and it wouldn't scan. The employee came over and said "Oh, Coupons? Those cause so much trouble with these machines, you are supposed to go to a real cashier." I apologized and said that I wasn't aware of this "rule". She then made me go up to the station so she could finish the transaction, the whole while mumbling about the problems with coupons, etc. She scanned my Tide coupon and some message came up and she asked to see the product. I pulled out my single packet and she exclaimed "We do not accept coupons for travel sizes!!" I replied "The coupon does not state that, if it did I wouldn't be attempting to use it!" She kept carrying on about how dare I think I could use a coupon on a travel size, while I bit my tongue to avoid being sassy and showing her all the other travel sizes I used coupons for before she came to my aid.

I eventually told her that I wouldn't purchase the Tide and asked for my coupon back, paid and left. Hubby thinks I should have gotten the manager. What would you have done?

Last night we were at Meijer getting groceries. I was so pleased with the excellent Green Giant Veggie Steamers deal (on sale for $0.79, had a couple $.50 and $1 coupons). Well the veggies rang up at $2.19. I asked the cashier about that and he called back to someone to double check the price. He then told me "Only Meijer veggies are on sale for that price!" I told him I didn't want them and he continued checking me out. Then it came time to scan my coupons. When I handed them to him, he said "What a pile!" in a slightly disgusted tone before he set to work. Not one but TWO coupons didn't register on the screen so I had to point this out to him. Each time he said "I know, I know" but if he knew, how come he was going on the next coupon? One coupon was for a free bag of cat litter valued at $6.99, so it wasn't like a $0.20 but some serious money!

On our way out we grabbed a sales flier and there it was, the picture of Green Giant Veggies and the price $0.79. Tonight we go back (the store is in the town we work) with ad in hand and will purchase those veggies!

Frugal Ways Spread

2008-12-18T12:44:00.000-08:00

Hubby LOVES Arby's so to celebrate our last night of Dodge Ball, we decided to use some coupons that came in our paper and have Arby's for dinner. In bed last night, I reminded him that it was his responsibility to bring the coupons and if he didn't bring them we weren't going (half joking).

Well he forgot the coupons this morning but being the awesome wife I am, I said we could still go there for dinner, no biggie. He was pretty bummed that he forgot and said he felt bad that we'd spend more money then we would have if he had remember the coupons.

About an hour ago he called from work, he found some Arby's coupons on-line and printed them off, wasn't I really proud of him? Awww....of course I am and I'm also thrilled my money saving ways are rubbing off on him!

Winner!

2008-12-18T05:09:00.000-08:00

Just a day late, but oh well, we have our winner!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:3

Timestamp: 2008-12-18 13:09:16 UTC

Coupon Mommie is the lucky winner! Thanks so much for playing and remember to Pay it Forward with a giveaway of your own!!

Frugal Christmas Fun!

2008-12-16T06:23:00.000-08:00

Instead of exchanging gifts with our BFF’s Kim and Eddie, we decided to do something together. Friday night we bundled up and headed off to a local Bible Camp’s live nativity. We got a narrated walking tour of the nativity and then a wagon ride back to the dining hall, where they were serving dinner! They had sloppy joes, mac n cheese, hot dogs, chicken noodle soup, cake, cookies, hot chocolate, coffee and juice. Cost was a donation. Also available where family pictures and children’s crafts. We spent a long time in the dining hall sipping hot chocolate and munching on cookies before we headed home on the “scenic route” (aka the attempt to see tons of Christmas lights). It was so much fun and all for the cost of gas and a donation!!

Here we are on the wagon ride back to the dining hall!
Don’t forget to enter my Pay it Forward giveaway!

Pay it Forward

2008-12-15T13:07:00.000-08:00

I was a winner of Brooke’s Pay it Forward giveaway!! I won a book and can’t read to crack it open and start reading it.

And since it was a Pay it Forward giveaway, I’m supposed to give something away too.

How about a Christmas Recovery Kit?

~Excedrin

~ Celestial Seasonings Green Tea

~Chocolates (in case the kids/spouse ate all yours)

~Other yet to be determined goodies. (I’ll update this list tomorrow)

How do you win? Simply leave me a comment with a link to your family Christmas Picture for 2008. It can be you and the tree (or whatever you take your picture with) or something more elaborate. And I’ll pick a random winner from all the entries on Wednesday, December 17. And please, PLEASE make sure you leave a way to contact you, or if your number is drawn you won’t get the prize.

And here is our Christmas photo:

Me, Hubby and our two cats, Baby (I’m holding her) and Red (Hubby is holding her).

Menu Planning Monday

2008-12-15T11:57:00.000-08:00

I've been winging it lately as Hubby and I have had his BFF (do guys have BFFs?) live with us for about 2 months as he is waiting his immigration paper work to clear before heading to Canada. Sometimes he cooks, sometimes he isn't there and sometimes he treats us to pizza or dinner out. We also eat in the car on Wednesdays (church) and Thursdays (Dodge ball) and some Mondays (Church Leadership Meeting) so planning eat in the car "meals" is quite the challege. But I'm too frugal to okay eating out twice a week!

Sunday: Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup, homemade breadsticks I used one of those "soup in a jar" gift mixes I got from a co-worker and spiced it up. I made homemade breadsticks (a huge accomplishment, I have a strange fear of making homemade bread products) from a recipe I found on a blog. They turned out quite well!

Monday: Shepherd's Pie, Jell-O This is a hodge podge Shepherd's pie, I was low on ground beef so I added ground black beans. I had no beef gravy so I mixed beef boullian, water and onion soup mix. We'll see how it tastes. The Jell-O contains a container of yogurt Hubby refused to eat for at least a week, even though I packed it in his lunch every single day.

Tuesday: Pork Tenderloin, Potato Wedges, Broccoli My good meal of the week!

Wednesday: Dinner in the car, not sure what though...

Thursday: Arby's, we got coupons in the paper and Hubby has been begging to go ever since.

Friday: Not sure....

Saturday & Sunday: At in-laws for Christmas/Hubby's Birthday celebration

Monday: Spaghetti Having my family (parents + sisters) over to celebrate our mom's 49th Birthday!

Tuesday: Pizza, chips, birthday cake Having friends over for pizza and games to celebrate Hubby's 25th Birthday!! Luckily Tuesday is 1/2 price for any Large or X-Large pizza at our favorite place, yay!

For more exciting meal plans and recipes, check out Laura's blog: The Org Junkie!

Crossing the Line?

2008-12-12T11:57:00.001-08:00

My officemate just snuck* down to our lunchroom with a tupperware to grab potluck leftovers for tonights dinner. She came back smug that she has enough for "1 dinner, maybe 2".

Is snagging other people's potluck leftovers for your dinner a great way to have a frugal meal or is it cheap?

* I say snuck because she first asked if I thought anyone would be down there and when I replied "probably not" said "Good!!"

Walgreens!

2008-12-12T11:21:00.000-08:00

I haven't been to Walgreens since the day after Thanksgiving (practically an eternity to me) but we needed some *ahem* adult items so a trip was in order and the savings were BIG!

I got:
2 Jiffy Corn Muffin Mixes @ $1.58 - $0.80 = $0.78
3 mini bags of True North Almond Clusters @ $0.51 (yes, they were $0.17/each!!!)
Reynolds Wrap @ $1.59 - $.60 Walgreens Q - $1 manu Q = FREE
2 boxes Jell-O @ $2.38 - $1.60 Walgreens Q = $0.78
Box of Dried Cranberries @ $1
Box of Raisins @ $1
Box of Durex @ $16.99 - $2 Manu Q = $14.99
KY Yours + Mine @ $19.99 - $5 Walgreens IVC - $5 Manu Q = $10 (for Hubby's stocking;0)
Quilted Northern 9 pack @ $4.29 sale for $3.50

Total (with tax) = $35.05 - $6RR I used = 29.05 - $7.69 on Walgreens Giftcard = $21.34 out of pocket. I got a $5RR for spending more than $25, so after the RR I basically only paid for the Durex ($16) and got everything else for free!!!!

Healed!

2008-12-09T08:21:00.000-08:00

I have friends and readers of different faiths and religious backgrounds and I love it. They make me think and keep me on my toes when it comes to my own faith. Some of you may disagree with what I'm going to share below and think it was a fluke or a doctor's error but I know without a doubt that God has restored my health!

For a very long time I thought God had only healed people in Bible times. I knew the stories of His miracles but those were so long ago, that it didn't matter to me. I prayed for people who were sick and hoped they would get better but didn't really believe it would happen.

As I grew in my faith and started learning more, I saw evidence of God's healing around me. A girl confined to a wheel chair now walks, a lady diagnosed with terminal cancer is 100%, an inoperable brain tumor was gone. So when I was diagnosed with mild to moderate aortic stenosis, Hubby and I had Pastor Keith pray over me for complete healing. We began searching the Bible for verses that promised healing and claimed them for my life. Those miracles became personal, Jesus healed the blind man, he would heal me!!

Last Tuesday (12/2/08) I went to the cardiologist. He heard a heart murmur and said it was likely that I had either a bicuspid aortic valve or coarctation of the aorta. He spoke about valve replacements, side effects of the various valves, how it would impact having children and ordered a transesphogeal echocardiogram to get a better look at my aorta and my left ventricle (suspetible to damage from the high blood pressure).Hubby and Pastor Keith again covered me in prayers for healing, as did our friends, RLC staff and my yada yada prayer girls.

Monday morning we headed to Munson for the T.E.E. Hubby and I were calm and had a good time praising God along with the radio on the ride up. I got prepped and my blood pressure was great and so was my pulse. Brent came in and hung out with me for a little bit before I got numbed and sedated. The last thing I remember is thinking "Boy I hope I go to sleep soon, I don't want to be awake through this!" and then waking up in recovery, confirming with Hubby that I was healed (I had some memory loss and asked him this repeatedly). Hubby said that the Doctor came out and said there is NO valve damage, NO coarctation, NO left ventricle damage, NO stenosis and NO murmur. Not only is there nothing wrong, there is no sign that anything was ever wrong! I don't need to see the cardiologist again and only need to maintain my blood pressure meds and low salt/caffiene diet. No exercise restrictions or anything! I have been fully restored!

I can't even begin to express my joy and thanks to the Lord who has healed me! I am again reminded what a wonderful, personal Savior I have!!!

Psalm 103: 1 - 4 With all my heart I praise the LORD, and with all that I am I praise his holy name! With all my heart I praise the LORD! I will never forget how kind he has been. The LORD forgives our sins, heals us when we are sick, and protects us from death. His kindness and love are a crown on our heads.

Psalm 30: 1-3 I will praise you, LORD! You saved me from the grave and kept my enemies from celebrating my death. I prayed to you, LORD God, and you healed me, saving me from death and the grave.

Soup

2008-12-03T05:16:00.000-08:00

I love a good, frugal meal. Especially one that uses leftovers in a different way! So imagine my delight when I found a recipe for Mashed Potato Soup that is easy to modify with whatever you have on hand. The basic recipe from http://www.allrecipes.com/ is:

1 tablespoon chopped onion
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups mashed potatoes (prepared with milk and butter)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon celery salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh or dried chives

In a saucepan, saute the onion in butter until tender. Add milk, potatoes, salt and celery salt if desired and pepper; heat through. Garnish with chives.

The first time I made it, I added cheese, a bag of frozen broccoli, carrots and cheese sauce and bacon bits.

I made it again last night and used the rest of our turkey gravy, the last bits of yellow and red peppers, a half bag of frozen broccoli, the last few carrots, Mexican shredded cheese and 1/2 a kielbasa sausage cut up.

I never measure anything as I just dump in leftover potatoes and enough milk to make it creamy but not too thin. Hubby loves it and it is a great "clean out the fridge" dinner!

This usually makes it into our menu plan bi-weekly or when our odds and ends container in the freezer gets full!!

Deals Galore!

2008-12-01T12:26:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving afternoon was spent poring over the Black Friday sale ads with my cousin and comparing couponing/rebating strategies and deals. I didn't know she was such a frugalista and we had a blast!

Friday I hit some stores for a little shopping but didn't really get caught up in all that Black Friday madness. I snagged the freebies from Rite Aid and another razor from Walgreens along with some chocolates and a few other goodies. At Target I got some cute pjs for a gift exchange. But Walmart and TJ Maxx were my big hits (in terms of savings). At Walmart I price matched Goody Hair accessories with Meijer's 50% all Goody Hair Accessories sale and used a $2 off coupon. I also snagged a free pack of Kotex (with $1 off coupon) so after price matching and the coupons WALMART OWED ME $0.21. Since they won't pay you to shop there, I left with a zero balance! I tried to work that again later in the day but the cashier wouldn't price match % off sales, then said I couldn't use my coupon with a sale and gave me the run around until I left. At least I got a good cashier in the morning.

At TJ Maxx, I got a pair of Nike Dri-Fit running tights for $16, regularly $50+!!! My sis (and fellow bargain shopper) found them (she got a pair too). Lest you thing I'm greedy, I let sis use a Goody hair accessories coupon too.

Thankful

2008-11-26T12:51:00.001-08:00

Here are just 101 things that I'm thankful for. Trust me, this list could be so much longer if my memory was better and I had more time. I don't expect you to read the whole thing but just wanted to share how God has blessed me so richly!

1. Hubby
2. Mom & Dad
3. The Sisters
4. A house guest that helps!
5. Being loved
6. The ability to give love
7. Laughter
8. Salvation
9. Having a God care about me so intimately He fulfills the quirky desires of my heart
10. Res Life Northern Michigan
11. Having a job
12. Brent having a job
13. Having a hubby that likes to hold hands
14. Toasters (I love toasted breads!)
15. Instant Oatmeal (a great work snack)
16. High Fiber Bread
17. Honey from local bees
18. Cinnamon Sugar Toast
19. The Farmer’s Market
20. The ability to walk to the store, post office and bank
21. A snow blowing maniac
22. Potlucks
23. Baby the Cat
24. Warm Blankets
25. Hand addressed envelopes
26. The internet
27. FRIENDS!!
28. Green Tea
29. Decaf coffee
30. Flavored creamer
31. Peppermint Hot Chcolate
32. Running
33. New Balance running shoes with N-Lock arch support
34. Scrabble
35. My Columbia Softshell
36. My Softshell + Outer Shell (Super warm jacket!)
37. Dry Max running shirts
38. My polka dot umbrella
39. Snow hats that don’t cover my eyes
40. Yellow package slips in my PO Box
41. Singing in the car with Brent
42. Emily’s crafty cards
43. Hannah’s ability to make me laugh
44. My treadmill
45. road trips
46. Lake Michigan
47. www.allrecipes.com
48. Crockpots
49. Cute Aprongs
50. Kitchen Aid Stand Mixers
51. Health Insurance
52. Clean, delicious drinking water
53. Coupons & Rebates
54. Pedicures
55. Nail Polish
56. Blogs
57. Days off of work
58. Fleece Sheets
59. Heat!
60. Big fluffy snow flakes
61. Pretty leaves
62. Daffodils
63. Sunshine
64. Jimmy Evans
65. Facebook
66. Xanga
67. Butt Hug underwear
68. Kisses
69. Sweaters
70. Baggy hoodies
71. Sweatpants
72. Fuzzy Slippers
73. In-Laws that I love and love me
74. Books I can’t put down
75. Magazines
76. Praise and Worship at Res Life
77. Shutterfly
78. Chocolate Chip Cookies
79. Tasty Treat
80. Pumpkin anything
81. The Office
82. The Amazing Race
83. The Wedding Singer
84. Slow Dancing
85. White Wine
86. Pictures
87. Digital Cameras
88. Clean House
89. No Laundry
90. An empty sink
91. Peanut Butter cups
92. Chocolate Chip Pancakes
93. Boots wif da fur
94. My Nalgene bottle
95. Patricia Wexler, M.D. skincare
96. Bakerella
97. Cupcakes
98. Birthdays
99. Flowers
100. Owning our home
101. Exchanging emails with my grandma

Things I love!

2008-11-25T06:21:00.001-08:00

Sarah is again hosting My Favorite Things which is doubly appropriate as this is Thanksgiving week and what better time to think about the "stuff" God has blessed us with to simplify and beautify our lives?

One of my favorite things is the book Marriage on the Rock by Jimmy Evans. I can't even begin to tell you how AWESOME this book is! Hubby and I took this class at church as part of our pre-marital counseling. We watched the DVD as a group, answered a few questions from the workbook in class and then would read the chapter and finish the workbook at home. I was skeptical of this class. I thought it would be cheesey, lame and unpractical. I figured the advice would be like "Love God and nothing bad will ever happen in your marriage". But it is WAY different than that! It is practical, funny and so applicable! It addresses everything from in-laws, money, kids, sex, chores and the list goes on and on! I highly recommend this book to anybody who is married, it can only help improve your relationship. And he never condemns, he admits to being a horrible husband and having a terrible marriage until he sought God's wisdom for his marriage.

Jimmy Evans and his wife, Karen, have other books. Hubby and I recieved Moutain Top of Marriage for a wedding gift but haven't cracked into it. We are asking for the One devotional for Christmas.

I can't encourage you enough about these books, especially Marriage on the Rock. Because who doesn't want a strong, solid marriage built on the Rock of God?

Menu Planning Monday

2008-11-24T11:34:00.000-08:00

Hubby and I have a house guest for the next month or so, our good friend is between jobs (got laid off in Texas and will be working in Canada after the New Year) so he is living with us! He has been incredibly helpful and has put plastic on our windows, replaced a light fixture, repaired our garbage disposal and got our drain flowing again! He also puts dinner in the oven for me so that its ready when we get home from work.

So what are we dining on this week?

Sunday: BBQ pork tenderloin in the crockpot, handmade potato wedges, steamed veggies, squash and brownies with ice cream.

Monday: Peanut Chicken Bowls

Tuesday: Tater Tot Casserole (see below), applesauce

Wednesday: Church Potluck, I’m bringing glazed sweet potatoes which will cook in the crockpot under my desk while I’m at work.

Thursday: Thanksgiving Dinner at my Grandma’s house! She said not to bring anything but I think I should anyway….but what to bring??

Friday: Not sure as Hubby works (I have off!) and then will be gone all night at the male teen lock-in at church.

Tater Tot Casserole

I’ve never made this before so here is my recipe (gleaned from several variations), does it seem to be on the right track?

Tater Tots
¾ lb brown hamburger
bag of frozen mixed veggies
1 can of something soup
squeeze of ketchup

Mix everything except tots, add a little milk if it seems dry. Pour into a greased casserole and top with tater tots. Bake 35 minutes at 350*.

For more meal ideas and recipes, be sure to check out Laura at the Org Junkie!

Razor Love!

2008-11-21T07:30:00.000-08:00

Jenny at Mommin'itup inspired this post.

Last night Hubby and I were at our Pastor's home for dinner. I was chatting with PK's wife (the guys were ohhing and ahhing at G.I. Joes on ebay) about shaving our legs. She mentioned that she LOVES the Venus Embrace razor. Well my mind flitted to the Venus Razor RR deal at Walgreen's next week and the 5 $4 off coupons from Vocalpoint I have and a light bulb went off...PK's wife will get some freebie razors from me! Yay! I love helping people out with the freebies and cheapies I'm able to score!!

Time to head to the store!

2008-11-21T07:21:00.000-08:00

I haven't gone grocery shopping for a couple weeks for a number of reasons (lack of time, to save money, eat down stock pile). I'd tossed around getting groceries tonight but didn't make my mind up until this morning at breakfast.

Hubby finished the milk with his cereal. I had the last frozen waffle with the last egg and we split the last apple.

Haha, I think its safe to say we've eaten down our stockpile :)

Baking Day!

2008-11-20T06:10:00.000-08:00

I've been lurking but not posting much lately. I haven't grocery shopped in 2 weeks which has saved us a bunch of money. And I've been incrediably busy with my church!

But on Sunday when Hubby was gone to the Teen Service (He loves teens so much!) I decided to whip up some cookies. I snagged some store brand m&ms for super cheap (like a large deli salad containers full for $1.25) so I made cocoa faux m&m cookies. As I started mixing, I thought a double batch sounded like a good idea. So I was creaming butter and sugars, no problem. Add vanilla. I started frantically digging around for it and couldn't find it, so I added some water to make up for the missing mositure. Then add flour. OH NO!! I didn't have enough flour! So I hurried down to our local store in my ratty sweats for a bag of flour. I ended up putting 4 dozen cookies in the freezer and having about 15 cookies left out for snacking and lunches.

Cookie Recipe:

2/3 c. shortening
2/3 c. margarine
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugarstir
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 3/4 cups flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
chocolate chips (or faux m&ms)

Cream margerine, shortening and sugars until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, mix. Add dry ingredients and mix thorougly. Stir in chocolate chips. Bake at 350*F for about 10 minutes, or until slightly brown on the top. Let cool for a minute or two on cookie sheet before removing to cooling racks.

Menu Planning Monday!!

2008-11-10T07:38:00.001-08:00

*Please congratulate Brooke! She got married on Saturday!*

This week's menu plan is looking pretty blank. But I did purchase some pyrex mugs to heat dinner up in and eat in the car before Church and Dodgeball so now our Wednesdays/Thursdays will be more than a sandwich, yay!! For more meal plans and recipes, check out Laura at the Org Junkie!

Monday: Hubby and I are heading to the Red Mesa Grill for BOGOF dinner to celebrate 6 months of wedded bliss!

Tuesday: I don't work in honor of Veteran's Day but have plans with a friend. Not sure what we'll eat but do have the fixings for stir fry in the freezer.

Wednesday: Beef n noodles! I cooked a monster pot roast on Sunday and will use some meat and the juice to make beef n noodles.

Thursday: Sandwiches before dodgeball

Friday: Not sure as hubby will be gone all weekend hoping to shoot a big Buck. Probably food filled with mushrooms as hubby will not touch those :)

Coupons Heads Up!

2008-11-07T05:34:00.000-08:00

Every Friday I eagerly check out Taylor Town Preview and see what coupons will be in the paper this weekend! (remember that coupons vary by region) I like knowing if its worth it to buy a paper and how many to buy, how long each coupon is good for, plus it gets me started thinking about upcoming meals and baking! It appears there will be 1 Smart Source Insert and 1 Valassic/Red Plum insert this weekend. Here are some of my favorite coupons from those inserts:

Smart Source
Cheerios Snack Mix, 4.5 oz.+, Check Mix or 100 Calorie Chex Mix .50 (1-3-09)
Duncan Hines Carrot Cake $1 (1-31-09) Perfect for a potluck!
Duncan Hines Cream Cheese Frostings .75/2 (1-31-09)
Frenchs French Fried Onions, any .50 (3-15-09) Yum...Green Bean Casserole
Hersheys Milk Chocolate Bar, w/ Almonds, or Special Dark B1G1F up to .79 (2-28-09) Chocolate coupons are perfect for stacking with Walgreens Easy Saver coupons and/or rebates!
Hersheys Miniatures, Kisses or Nuggets Special Dark Chocolates, 11 oz+ $1 (2-28-08)
Hormel Pepperoni Pack, any .55 (1-17-09)
Kotex Lightdays Pantiliners, any .75 (1-4-09)
Kotex Pads, any $1 (1-4-09) I have a $1.50 Kotex Walgreens coupon, this should equal some freebies!
Kotex Security Tampons, any $1/2 (1-4-09)
Pillsbury Crescent Dinner Rolls, any .25 (1-31-09) Pillsbury rolls, breads, etc help round out sparse dinners at our house
Pillsbury Refrigerated Cookie Dough, any $1 on 2 (1-31-09)
Pillsbury Refrigerated Grands Biscuits, any .30/2 (1-31-09)
Pillsbury Sweet Rolls, any .40/2 (1-31-09)
Reynolds Parchment Paper, any $1 (1-4-09)
Rold Gold Pretzel Waves, any 7 oz. $1 (12-31-08)
Rubbermaid Easy Find Lids, Produce Saver, or Premier Container, any $1 (12-24-08)
Russell Stover Private Reserve, Internationale, etc, 3.95 to 4.95 oz. B1G1F DND (5-31-09)

Valassic/Red Plum
RED LOBSTER Dinner Entrees, any $4 on 2 and Lunch Entrees, any $3 on 2 (12-23-08) We use these on our date nights :)
Crisco Product, any .45 (1-31-09)
Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk, any .55 DND (1-31-09)
Hungry Jack Biscuits, any $1 on 2 DND (1-31-09)
Jif Peanut Butter, any .35 (12-31-08)
Keebler Ready Crust Pie Crust, any .25 (1-4-09) Crust and PB coupons? Better make PB Pie!
Kelloggs All-Bran Fiber Product, any $1 on 2 (1-4-09)
Kelloggs Froot Loops, Apple Jacks, Frosted Flakes, etc. Cereal 8 oz.+ $1 (12-21-08)
Kelloggs Pop-Tarts, any 8 ct.+ .55 (1-3-09) .10 each
Kelloggs Rice Krispies, Frosted Mini-Wheats, or Crispix Cereal, 10 oz.+ $1 (12-31-08)
Kelloggs Smart Start, Special K or All-Bran Cereal, 11.4 oz.+ $1 (12-21-08) Yay! $1 off Cereal!!
Martha White Baking Mixes, any .55/2 DND(1-31-09)
Meow Mix Wholesome Goodness Dry Cat Food, any $1 (1-3-09)
Meow Mix Wholesome Goodness Wet Cat Food Single Cup B1G1F up to .89 (1-3-09) Kitty's Holiday Dinner
Morton Natures Seasons Seasoning Blend, any .30 (1-31-09)
Morton or McCormick Season-All Seasoned Salt, any .30 (1-31-09)
New York Brand Frozen Garlic Bread Product, any .40 (2-9-09)
New York Brand Pizzeria Dip N Sticks, any .40 (2-9-09)
Pillsbury Brownie Mix or Frosting, any .75/2 DND (1-31-09)
Pillsbury Quick Bread Mix, any $1 on 3 DND (1-31-09)
Rimmel Mascara, any $1 (12-31-08)
Rimmel Product, any $1 (12-31-08)
Sister Schuberts Product, any .50 (2-9-09) Our favorite frozen rolls
Smuckers Jam, Jelly, Preserves or Fruit Spread, any .25 (1-31-09)
Smuckers Toppings, any $1 on 2 DND (1-31-09)
Vanity Fair Napkins, any .50 (12-28-08)
Vanity Fair Plates, any .50 (12-28-08)
HALLMARK $2 off $10 or more purchase and $5 off $25 or more purchase (11-16-08)

Head on over to Mommy Snacks! Andrea has a head start on CVS and Walgreens deals for next week! Hot Coupon World also has the preview of the Walgreens ad for next week!

Frugal Finds and Eats!

2008-11-05T06:49:00.001-08:00

This week has been a total turn around compared to my many less than frugal slip-ups last week!

Hubby and I scored some sweet deals this week grocery shopping. We are pretty stocked on meal stuff but just wanted to grab some deals for lunch and snack stuff. Here is what we snagged:

3 bags Freshlike Broccoli-------------- 2 cans Pilsbury Biscuits

2 Boxes Saltines (these were 1/2 price and I could use the $1 off 2 Keebler Cracker Q)

Milk ---------------------------------2 boxes Whole Grain Poptarts

Kraft 2% Singles --------------------2 Hunts Pudding Snack Packs

Bertolli Dinner (Hubby found this: They were marked down from $5.99 to $4.89 plus I had a $1.75 off Q)

3 cans Healthy Choice Soup---------6 Yoplait Yogurts

2 Boxes Superfillz Pretzels ---------Red Baron Panini

Eggo Waffles

Total Cost (after sales and Coupons): $25.51! Total Savings: $26.58!!!

Wow did Walgreens ever suprise me this week! Here is what I snagged:

2 boxes of Celestial Seasonings Decaf Green Tea ------2 Packs Wrigley Gum

3 packs of Schick Quatrro Razors ---------------------Almay Mascara

Almay Cover Up

I did use a couple RRs but my total Out of Pocket was: $2.53, Total savings: $47.76!!! Not including the $6.99 rebate for the mascara, cuz that makes it a +$4.46 money maker!

To continue the amazing streak, Rite Aid had everything I wanted in stock!!

I grabbed 10 SoyJoy Bars and the double pack of GUM toothbrushes. I had 3 BOGOF SoyJoy Coupons so I paid $5.61 for everything and will get back $6.99, yay! I made $1.38!!!

Eats!

Last night Hubby and I had a movie night! We got our favorite BC Pizza for a deal! Hubby salvaged 10 boxes from his work trash so we got a $2 medium and on Tuesday night its 1/2 price Large and Extra Large so we got a medium Bacon and Onion and a large Taco Pizza for $9!!

Monday nights in November Red Mesa Grill is offering BOGOF Dinners so next Monday we are heading there to celebrate our 6 month anniversary!

The best part is that Hubby is really getting involved in this money saving. When we were first married he scoffed at the effort I put forth but now he is the one spotting deals and salvaging pizza boxes from the trash!

Last Chance!

2008-11-04T06:06:00.000-08:00

Today is your very last chance to enter Free 2 Be Frugal's drawing for a Home Depot gift card!! Who couldn't use a little help winterizing their home??

Need more help than a $25 gift card can provide? Well you are in luck!! All you need to do is create a video to show how you're saving money and helping the environment by making your home more energy efficient. Log on to http://www.homedepot.com/youtubeto enter your video before November 9, 2008. The contest winner will receive a $5,000 Home Depot gift card and up to $2,000 for installed insulation or radiant barrier products from The Home Depot. The energy savings videos should focus on conserving energy in your home and addressing issues to prevent high energy bills. The videos will be judged on relevance to the energy savings theme, originality and creativity. The second and third place winners will receive a $1,500 and $500 gift card, respectively.

I'd hurry if I was you!!

Menu Planning Monday!

2008-11-03T08:53:00.000-08:00

I’m discovering that its hard to plan dinners when you only eat at home 3 days week! Wednesday is church and hubby has to be there at 6, with him getting out of work at 5:30 and being about 1 mile from church we usually head straight there and eat a sandwich in the parking lot. Thursday we start we Adult Dodgeball at 7. If we went home after work, we’d have ½ hour before turning around to head back to town to play. Not that appealing but neither is two nights of sandwiches in a row. Bleh! I might try heating foods up and keeping them warm til I pick up hubby and then eating. Not sure how well that will work but we are getting tired of sandwiches.

This is what is on our menu for the week:

Sunday: Lunch was left over chicken potpie, dinner was chicken strips and broccoli.

Monday: NY Strip, potato wedges, corn

Tuesday: Beef stir fry

Wednesday: Church Night: Egg Salad sandwiches

Thursday: Dodgeball: still working on this one!

Friday: Chicken Enchiladas.

Need better ideas and recipes? Check out Laura at the Org Junkie for the tons of ideas, recipes and a giveaway!!

Happy Birthday!

2008-10-31T13:37:00.000-07:00

Today my Great-Grandma turns 94!! Her mother lived to almost 100 and died just a month before I was born. I have been very blessed to know all 4 of my great-grandmothers and 1 of my great-grandfathers. I still have all 4 grandparents living, both sets rocking 50+ years of marriage!

Great Gram and I about 3 ago!

Not so frugal

2008-10-29T12:06:00.000-07:00

My brain is fried and my frugal ways are suffering as a result. Last week I grabbed the wrong size Pert Plus at walgreens and instead of getting for free, I paid about $3. Then last night at Meijer I forgot to use my $4/$50 coupon. And today I forgot a CD of pictures I want to print, so I'll have to get one hour tomorrow and pay almost double. ARGH!!

Things I love!

2008-10-28T09:14:00.001-07:00

Its Tuesday, so I'm playing along with Sarah and letting you know something I love!

For the record: Hubby and I don't imbibe very often. Its more likely that we'll end throwing beer away because it goes skunky before we finish the case. Seriously!

But when friends invited us to go on a color tour and wine tasting, we jumped at the chance! We see these friends infrequently and it was bound to be a wonderful fall day. And at Chateau Chantel, I fell in LOVE with Sparkling Cherry Wine! It is so good, sweet and light tasting, not at all dry or icky (my previous description of wine).

I gladly used 7 of my tasting tickets on that delicious wine. The last ticket was used on champagne. Equally good! And know what else is awesome? Its only $10 a bottle! I can justify that little splurge. You can order it on-line if you live in Michigan. If you don't, you better go cry yourself to sleep.

And the winery is beautiful! The drive up Old Mission Pennisula is incrediable, offering views of water on either side. Chateau Chantel offers complimentary wine tastings and tours almost year round (check schedule) and since you made the drive to Old Mission Pennisula, be sure to check out the other wineries road side stands selling produce, light house and the delicious restaurants. Actually, if you want to visit Traverse City, Michigan at all, contact me!

Here a few other pictures from our wonderful fall weekend that included the discovery of sparkling cherry wine!

Above Left: Hubby and I at the winery. Notice the water in the background and the colorful trees. It was apparently the last nice weekend of the year!

Above Right: I was halfway between the North Pole and Equator. It felt like I was closer to the North Pole.

Right: Hubby and I standing on rocks where Lake Michigan once was. It was really mucky and we both had some serious mud on our shoes.

Menu Planning Monday

2008-10-27T11:31:00.001-07:00

Yay, its another Monday! We were at the inlaws this weekend so my meal plan for this week is a little scarce as Sunday is my meal planning/week organizing day. Check out more menus and recipes at Laura's site, the Org Junkie!

Monday: English Muffins w/ Egg and Cheese, Hasbrowns, Canned Fruit

Tuesday: ?? Not sure as we'll be cashing in on our Free Taco Bell Taco before grocery shopping. Maybe just a snack later on?

Wednesday: Sandwich in the car before church. Again. Or maybe we'll see what our church's cafe is having and grab something there.

Thursday: Chicken Pot Pie. Its in the freezer (I made a double batch about a month ago), all I have to do is thaw and bake!

Friday: Another quick bite in the car before our church's Harvest Festival! Hubby and I are running the Jousting Game for the teens.

Saturday: Not sure, probably sandwiches AGAIN as Hubby has a race (full contact dirt track car racing).

Walgreens

2008-10-23T07:20:00.000-07:00

This week was a big Register Rewards week- Yay!

This morning I got
1 Gillete Fusion Razor - $8.99 - $4 RR - $4Q = $0.99
1 Nivea Men's Body Wash - $4.99 - $4.99 Rebate = $0 Hoping for the rebate to work (its not listed but has been reported working)
1 Lypsyl - $2.99 - $2.99 Rebate = $0 Same rebate situation as Nivea
1 Pert Plus = $3.49 - $2.50 IVC - $1Q = $0
2 Colgate Fresh Max toothpastes clearanced to $1 - $2 - 2 $1Q = $0 Check your stores!!
1 Theraflu Warming - $4.99 - $2Q = $2.99 (Free after manufacturers rebate)
1 Excedrian Gel Caps - $5.99 - $2 = $3.99 (Free after manufacturers rebate) Received $4RR from Thera Flu and Excedrian
4 Bags Candy - $10 - $4 rebate = $6
1 Alka Seltzer Cold - $4.99 - $4.99 RR = $0

To sum it up:
Total Before Coupons/Rebates/RRs = $48.44
Total After Coupons (used $1 RR)= $28.60
Total After RRs = $15.60
Total After Rebates (Manufacturers and Walgreens) = $0.64

So to pay the $28.60 I used the balance left on my giftcard and $16 cash. I'm going back again later today to get another Fusion (I had 2 coupons!) and a free Always Infinity. I got a Q for a free pack and they have a $1RR for them! I'll buy a pack of gum or something so my total is over $5 and use my $5 RR from the Alka-Seltzer to pay!

Question: Does Walgreens have a new coupon/RR policy? The cashier (my favorite am cashier was AWOL) said that you can't pay with ANY RRs and get any new RRs (even though I did....) and she said something else about Qs that I missed as I was watching the register like a Hawk. Anybody hear any new coupon/RR rules for Wags?

Menu Planning Monday

2008-10-20T13:12:00.000-07:00

Laura is hosting another Menu Planning Monday! I love checking out other people's menus and recipes, it always inspires to try something new!

Last week I was flexiable when I found a bounty of produce for cheap. Instead of pork and rice, I made pork stir fry! So yummy! The scrambled eggs with veggies, ham and cheese was also a surprise hit. I also baked that horrible batch of muffins but redeemed my self with a lemony blueberry buckle.

This week we are having:

Monday - Family Dinner to Celebrate Mom and Dad's 28th Anniversary: Creamy Italian Chicken, Veggie Saute, Noodles, Jello, Bread, Apple Dumplings with Vanilla Ice Cream

Tuesday - Bacon Mac n Cheese, Broccoli

Wednesday - Sandwiches before Church. I need some help here, We have to be at church by 6, hubby works til 5:30 so we just head straight to church after he gets out of work (without going home). What else could we eat in the car besides sandwiches?

Thursday: Shake n Bake Chicken, baked potatoes

Friday: Young Adults Bon-Fire and Hayride!

Saturday & Sunday: Going to the In-Laws.

Cooking School 101 - Cumin does not equal Cloves

2008-10-16T08:01:00.000-07:00

Know what isn’t frugal? Baking something and using a wrong ingredient so the whole batch goes to waste!

Last night I set out to whip up some of my delicious low fat (1 TBSP oil, 1 egg) banana muffins for Boss’ Day. I also added some mini-chocolate chips and made a chocolaty crumb topping (negating the low-fat part). I whipped these up and started baking them before I noticed I put CUMIN in them instead of CLOVES. UGH! I was hopeful that it wouldn’t be noticed and as I bit into one, I was pleased that I didn’t notice anything funny about them. Until Sissy and Hubby tasted them. They both noticed the cumin flavor. ARGH! So there was no Boss’ Day treat today and a batch of muffins went to waste!

Sissy commented “At least this will make a good blog story” and she is right. Just file this under “Katie’s Cooking Blunders”

Hostess with the Mostest....or not

2008-10-15T06:37:00.000-07:00

I read a good post by Lynnae at Being Frugal about entertaining. I love the concept of entertaining but I have a huge entertaining phobia! I enjoy cooking, baking and house keeping (to some degree!) but when it comes to having people over, I seize up.

I worry about food and if my bathroom is clean enough. I worry that my couch is brown, our recliner is cream, our rocker is blue and our walls are green. I get antsy because I have silver, black, white and wooden picture frames. I notice spots on the carpet and dings in the door frames. I light candles for a nice scent, then worry they are too strong and open windows to air the place out. I make too much food because I don’t want anyone to be hungry and I’m not sure what the likes and dislikes are.

Obviously it appears that I get stressed out, and when I get stressed out I get snappy. Especially with my poor hubby who doesn’t deserve it. And I think it goes without saying that a snappy hostess and brooding hubby aren’t any fun at all!

So when I read Lynnae’s post about entertaining, it reminded me that hospitality is a wonderful way to show the love and kindness of God. Some of our funnest times are spent playing Settlers of Catan on a card table, eating popcorn and drinking hot chocolate at our friend’s house.

I need to focus on making my guests comfortable with my attitude instead of trying to use food and décor to wow them. I need to reflect Christ in my actions and words instead of trying to impressive with wordly stuff. I need to allow myself small splurges when guests come but not blow my monthly grocery budget.

I’m going to try and keep all this in mind as we have my parents and sisters over for a dinner celebrating our parents 27 years of marriage!

Our menu is:

Creamy Italian Chicken cooked in the crock-pot while I work. I’ll shred/dice the chicken to stretch it and serve it over pasta

Broccoli

French Bread from Walmart warmed in the oven

Jello with fruit

Apple Cake and Vanilla Ice Cream for dessert

By using the crock-pot and preparing the jello and cake ahead of time, I hope to cut down on my day of entertaining stress!!

I love reading the Reluctant Entertainer, she always reminds me that hospitality is the best way to show God's love, kidness and generosity towards others.

Do you have any entertaining tips you'd like to share with me? Especially about frugal centerpieces, meals that feel fancy, etc!

My Favorite Thing

2008-10-14T11:12:00.000-07:00

Sarah is again hosting another round of My Favorite Thing! Usually I try to pick something tangible like a book, tool, etc. But this week, I'm picking my BFF, Kim! Kim and I went to elementry, middle and high school together. And we roomed together in college. But we weren't actually good friends until college and best friends until sometime after college. It just took us a while to see the light I guess.

Kim and I at her wedding reception!

Anyway, on top of being my best friend in the world, she is an RN. So when I was stuck in the ER last week, she was working the ICU and came down to keep me company and help decipher all the medical jargon for me. She is also letting me borrow her blood pressure cuff so that I don't have to go to the doctor daily, I can monitor my blood pressure at home.

Kim and I at my wedding. Keeping me calm between hair and make-up and putting on the dress.

So thanks Kim for being a wonderful friend who makes my life SO much easier! I love ya girl!

Menu Planning Update!!

2008-10-13T10:56:00.000-07:00

Today I swung by the bread store for $0.79 whole wheat buns for our hotdogs. Then I hit up Meijer and lo and behold, they were pulling out their reduced produce cart just as I walked in!!

I snagged:
6 still green bananas = $0.75
1/2lb mushrooms = $0.25
2lbs onions = $0.74
3 red and 5 green peppers = $1.15
.79lbs carrots = $0.32

THEN I remembered our local Spartan store is having a 3 day sale with eggs for $0.99/dozen. So I'm thinking that omelets will be for dinner on Wednesday (first day of sale) with peppers, onion, mushrooms in them. I'll bake and do some other egg stuff to use eggs and I'll get more on Friday when the sale ends.

Menu Planning Monday

2008-10-13T08:34:00.000-07:00

This week we are pretty sparse, just trying to eat up what we have in the freezer, cupboards, etc. For more menu plans and ideas, check out menu planning Monday hosted by the orgjunkie!

Monday night: Hotdogs, beans, veggies

Tuesday: Rotini with meatballs, side of spinach

Wednesday: Porkloin, Rice, veggies

Thursday: Soup with leftover pork, etc

Friday: leftover buffet!

sigh

2008-10-09T10:50:00.000-07:00

Last night didn't go as planned when a quick stop into the walk-in clinic for a rash turned into a trip to the ER and appointments for an echocardiogram and renal sonography. My blood pressure was super high yesterday (170/120, normal would be 120/80) and off to the ER I went. A quick peek in my medical record showed that I've had elevated blood pressure for at least 5 years and over time it has gone up and up and up. (FYI - 170/120 is in the range for people having a stroke!) I stayed for a while as they ran some EKGs and blood work. I'm now on some "old people" meds such as ACE inhibitors and calcium channel blockers. They think the cause of this on-going blood pressure problem is due to an underlying issue with my thyroid and/or kidneys.

So I filled 4 prescriptions today for my new med cocktail for $35, without insurance it would have been $155! I have a hard time swallowing a new expensive of $35/month but I can't imagine paying $155/month. Wowzer!

While my meds were getting filled, I strolled past the reduced price food cart and grabbed a few deals! I got 7 bananas for $0.60, 2lbs of grapes for $0.77, bag of spinach for $0.25 and a ceasar salad kit for $0.25! The bananas are either really brown or really green but I'll make some bread with the brown ones. I was pleased as punch!

Snow Blower

2008-10-08T12:40:00.000-07:00

Hubby and I saved almost all of our wedding money. We opened a savings account with some and put some in a CD for future use. Our only purchase so far had been a tent. But with winter looming we decided to buy a snow blower.

We bought it from Sears and werethisclose to applying for a Sears Mastercard to qualify for the 0% interest, 0 payments for 12 months and just take 12 months to pay it off. But the more we thought about it, the less we liked that idea and realized we'd be tempted to either not pay it off at the end of the 12 months or just buy things, putting it on the Mastercard since we already had it.

It felt so good to walk in there and be able to pay cash for a $600 snow blower. Yes, that may seem pricey but when you easily get 12 inches of snow overnight with 15+mph and have to leave for work by 7 am, there aren't many other options.

Actually we feel pretty lucky, 2 years ago our first sticking snow was on October 8!! And so far, we've been snow free! Yay!

Menu Planning Monday

2008-10-06T09:14:00.000-07:00

This week I had my menu planned on Saturday! My sister owes me some money but doesn’t have it (she obviously doesn’t have my financial savvy) so she came over to work off her debt. This was the perfect opportunity for me to do some mega cooking and have her do some mega dishwashing!

Saturday I made apple cake, a dozen breakfast burritos, pizza cobbler, chicken breasts and chicken stock. We ate the apple cake and pizza cobbler for dinner. The cooked chicken, chicken stock and breakfast burritos are in the freezer for later use.

Sunday: Lunch was chicken sandwiches, dinner was stew over biscuits

Monday: Enchiladas, Spanish Rice. I made a triple batch of enchiladas last month and this is the first batch I have pulled out of the freezer.

Tuesday: Rotoni and meatballs, garlic bread. No different than spaghetti but hubby prefers rotoni noodles. I snagged a couple of boxes of Ronzoni Smart Tasta Rotoni for Free at Meijer last week. (On sale for $0.99, had $1 coupons!)

Wednesday: Chicken Pot pie! Will use some of the chicken I cooked over the weekend.

Thursday: Grilled cheese and tomato soup. It’s a great comfort food!

Friday: Leftovers or if there are none, brats on the grill. We need to squeeze in as much grilling as we can!

Need some more menu ideas and recipes? Check out Laura at the Org Junkie!

Blessed!

2008-10-02T12:30:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite songs we sing at Res Life ROCKS is Psalm 73 by Barlow Girl. Every time we sing “My God's enough for me, this world has nothing I need, In this whole life I've see, My God's enough, enough for me" I’m reminded that everything I have and desire comes from the Lord. Brent and I struggled with tithing early on in our relationship. It was hard giving that money away when we had bills to pay and were racking up the gas bills driving to see each other.

Pastor Chris often speaks about tithing and the Bible teaches that tithing isn’t about the money, its about putting faith in God for all things and for all needs.

After some time we were convicted to tithe and to make a pledge to our History Makers campaign for our new building. We were amazed that as we tithed our bank accounts saw little change, despite the additional checks we were writing.

Not only did we see little negative change in our account, even though our incomes and expenses remained static, we began seeing God’s blessing increase in our lives. Our broken freezer was fixable. Improved relationships with friends. And now when my take home pay is getting reduced due to an increase in our healthcare costs, God has provided Brent with a raise.

I am continually amazed at the faithfulness and blessing of our Father.

Psalm 27: 25 & 26 Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Lunch

2008-10-02T05:58:00.000-07:00

I pack 2 lunches a day, 5 days a week. One for me and one for hubby. Hubby's lunches are harder and easier to pack. Harder because a) he requires more food b) he is picky when it comes to healthy stuff. Easier because he loves sandwiches, which I can only tolerate on occassion.

Each day he usually gets 2 fruits/veggies, a low-fat yogurt, healthy granola bar (low sugar, high fiber) and a sweet in addition to his "main course". Sometimes another snacky thing (trail mix, PB crackers, etc) depending on the main course. Main courses range from sandwiches (whole grain bread), leftovers, frozen meals, soup or canned pasta. I try to keep an eye on salt, fat, fiber, etc but its hard!

I'm more of a leftovers or piece of whole grain toast with PB girl with fruits, yogurt and veggies as snacks. But I like having a few frozen meals on hand in case I want something more on certain days. But I hate the price of frozen meals (I know $2.25 is still cheaper than eating out). So imagine my delight when I found Kashi Shrimp meals marked down to $1.87! Kashi meals were healthy and now affordable. I grabbed one couple and checked out. WHAT? It rang up at $0.86 and spit out a catalina for $1.25 off any 2 Kashi meals. I told hubby to bring the rest of the stuff to the car and went back, coupon in hand for more. After buying 2 more, I got another catalina for $1.50 off 3!! Now I have a nice stash of frozen meals to tide me through for a little bit.

But you know what is better than that? Free meals! Check out the give away at Common Sense with Money, she is giving away a Del Monte meal. YUMMY!!

My favorite thing!

2008-09-30T08:57:00.001-07:00

I’m a newlywed who tries hard to cook and bake but often has many, many questions about cooking times, types of pots/pans, ingredients, etc. Every time I run into something, I flip up my Better Homes and Garden cookbook and ta-da! There is the answer!

I bought this cookbook for myself when I moved out on my own. After I got engaged and had a couple bridal showers, I ended up having 3 copies! I’ve gladly given my extra copies to my newlywed friends, knowing that they will use it frequently as a resource guide and as a cookbook chock full of delicious recipes.

To see even more cool things that bloggers love, check out Sarah's blog!

Menu Planning Tuesday

2008-09-30T05:58:00.000-07:00

A day late, but here is my meal plan for the week! Last week’s meal plan wasn’t followed too well, life happens and we just went with the flow. For more meal plans and recipes, check out Laura at the orgjunkie!

Monday: Baked mac n cheese, veggies

Tuesday: Lemon Pepper pasta with chicken, broccoli

Wednesday: Stew and biscuits

Thursday: French Toast Bake, smoky links, fruit

Friday: Sweet n Sour chicken (Wanchai Ferry Kit bulked up with additional veggies and brown rice).

French Toast Bake

1 loaf cinnamon swirl bread ($1.29 at the bread outlet!)

6 eggs

3 cups ½ n ½ (I use a pint of ½ n ½ and enough milk to make 3 cups total)

Chop bread into bite size pieces and put in a greased 9x13 pan. Mix eggs and milk/ ½ n ½ . Pour over bread. Store in fridge overnight, bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. Can also add additional cinnimon or chopped apple, rasins, etc.

Rite Aid & Walgreens

2008-09-24T05:35:00.000-07:00

I find it hard to juggle rebating at multiple stores and obviously this month I was focused on Walgreens. My total Rite Aid rebate is for $2. Haha, I didn't score ANY of the fabulous freebies at the start of the month and then things were only so-so. Oh-well, I got Hubby cheap Motts Applesauce for his lunch and I got myself some Suave Lotion.

However, Walgreens rocked and I scored tons of freebies and lots of cheapies! I highly recommend checking out their clearance section. I got a couple boxes of 100 calorie packs of Cappucino Mix for $1 and some $0.25 packs of M&M Cookies. Perfect for stocking stuffers or in my case, Elf Week at work. I also noticed 1/2 price Alavert - $12 for 24 pills, plus many of you should have a $2 coupon.

Favorite Things!

2008-09-23T06:45:00.000-07:00

Sarah is hosting Favorite Things again, but this week she wants us to share our favorite recipes. The Bear Loaf , Creamy Italian Chicken and mashed potatoes aren't exact, sorry, because with favorite recipes you don't even follow the recipe any more, ya know?

I’ll share my favorite comfort food meals (notice mashed potatoes in both…YUMMY) and my favorite dessert.

Meal #1 - Bear Loaf (Hubby’s Meatloaf), garlic mashed potatoes, corn

Bear Loaf
1 lb ground beef
1 lb sausage (we use Bob Evans Zesty Italian)
½ can of tomato soup
1 sleeve of saltine crackers, crushed
1 egg

Mix the ground beef and sausage, add ½ can of soup, crushed crackers and egg. Mix well. Shape into two loafs on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cook at 350 for 50 minutes. Check for doneness and spread mix of BBQ, Ketchup, Spicy Mustard and Brown Sugar on top and sides of loaves. Finish baking. You can also bake in a loaf pan, but I like the crispy bits and free styled loaves have way more!

Meal #2 - Creamy Italian Chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, broccoli

Creamy Italian Chicken (crock-pot or baked)
1 block of cream cheese, softened
1 pkg of Italian dressing mix
1 can of cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup
4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Additional seasonings/spices if you like more zest (we do!)
Splash or so of milk (optional)

Baked:Mix cream cheese, soup and dressing mix. Add some milk if you like it a little thinner (I like more sauce). Place chicken in 9x13 and sprinkle with additional herbs/seasoning if desired. Pour mixture over chicken. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until juices run clear.

Crock-pot:Put chicken, ½ cup water and Italian Dressing Mix and other spices in crock-pot. Cook until chicken is done, adding water if necessary (Mine is usually on low for 11 hours, while we are working.) Mix cream cheese and soup and pour into crock-pot. Cook another 30 minutes or so with lid off to thicken mixture.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Peel and boil potatoes. I usually peel about 1/2 and keep the skin on 1/2 cuz I'm crazy that way! Dump into mixing bowl and pour in your milk, butter, sour cream to taste. Add Garlic seasoning to taste. I like Mc Cormick Garlic Salt with Parsley. Then I add some salt free garlic herb to keep things balanced :) I like Garlic Mashed potatoes because you don't need gravy, they are awesome just how they are. But the sauce of the creamy Italian chicken is just wonderful on them!

Broccoli and Corn
Go to freezer, grab veggies and follow directions on the bag :)

I might also add some bread/rolls to these meals to stretch them a bit or if I'm feeling extra ambitious. Usually I'm not!

Chocolate Lava Cakes
These are the best dessert hands down! I love them with ice cream or berries and whip cream. They can easily be dressed up with sprinklings of powder sugar or sophsticated with coffee ice cream.

1 pkg. (6 squares) BAKER'S Bittersweet Chocolate (I usually use equvilent ounces of bittersweet chocolate chips)
10 Tbsp. butter
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup flour
3 whole eggs
3 egg yolks

Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on MEDIUM (50%) 2 min. or until butter is melted. Stir with wire whisk until chocolate is completely melted. Add sugar and flour; mix well. Add whole eggs and egg yolks; beat until well blended. Recipe calls for baking in custard cups. I don't have custard cups nor do I have room to store custard cups. I line a large muffin tin with cupcake wrappers. You could use a normal size muffin tin to stretch the recipe or to control portions. But they are so good you might just eat 2 small ones.

Bake 11to 12 min at 425. or until cakes are firm around the edges but still soft in the centers. Let stand 1 min. Carefully lift out of muffin tins and peel off liners. Place in a bowl and serve with ice cream, berries, whipped topping, etc. Serve warm.

Menu Planning Monday

2008-09-22T06:48:00.000-07:00

Family Favorites!

This weeks’ Menu Planning Monday is focused on family favorites. So I’m creating an imaginary menu to show what we would have if we were eating family favorites all week. But lets be honest, this week is SUPER busy with the grand opening of our new church building, a huge site audit at work and hubby’s golf. So we will more than likely be eating spaghetti, hot dogs on the grill and steak on the nights we actually are home.

Monday – Bear Loaf, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn. Bear Loaf is just Hubby’s Meatloaf but his nickname is bear, hence the name.

Tuesday – French Toast Bake, fruit

Wednesday – Steak on the grill, potatoes, veggie

Thursday – Creamy Italian Chicken, pasta, broccoli

Friday – Pizza Cobbler, salad

Bear Loaf
1 lb ground beef
1 lb sausage (we use Bob Evans Zesty Italian)
½ can of tomato soup
1 sleeve of saltine crackers
1 egg

Mix the ground beef and sausage, add ½ can of soup, crushed crackers and egg. Mix well. Shape into two loafs on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cook at 350 for 50 minutes. Check for doneness and spread mix of BBQ, Ketchup, Spicy Mustard and Brown Sugar on top and sides of loaves. Finish baking.

French Toast Bake
1 loaf cinnamon swirl bread
6 eggs
3 cups ½ n ½ (I use a pint of ½ n ½ and enough milk to make 3 cups total)

Chop bread into bite size pieces and put in a greased 9x13 pan. Mix eggs and milk/ ½ n ½ . Pour over bread. Store in fridge overnight, bake at 350 for a half hour, check for doneness. Not sure the exact baking timeL

Creamy Italian Chicken (crock-pot or baked)
1 block of cream cheese, softened
1 pkg of Italian dressing mix
1 can of cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup
4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Baked Version:
Mix cream cheese, soup and dressing mix. Add some milk if you like it a little thinner (I like more sauce). Pour of chicken in the 9x13 pan. Make at 350 for 30 minutes or until juices run clear.

Crock-pot:
Put chicken, ½ cup water and spices in crock-pot. Cook until chicken is done, adding water if necessary (Mine is usually on low for 11 hours, while we are working. It is always done by thenJ). Mix cream cheese and soup and pour into crock-pot. Cook another 30 minutes or so with lid off to thicken mixture.

Wags love!

2008-09-16T07:12:00.000-07:00

I might not be as hard-core of a bargain shopper, but I love the $10 off of $40 Walgreens Coupon!

Here is what I snagged:

5 boxes of granola bars @ $2/box = $10 – 5 $0.50Qs = $7.50

3 boxes of Kleenex @ $0.89 (Wags 7day Q) - $1/3Q = $1.67

Excedrin @ $3.99 (FAR)

Revlon Nail Polish* @ $4.49 - $2Q = $2.49

Visine @ $3.99 - $2 IVC - $3Q = +$1!!!

Crest Pro Health mouthwash @ $4.49(free after RR) = $4.49

Nivea Mens Body Wash @ $4.99 (FAR) - $1Q = $3.99

Crest Pro Health toothpaste @ $3.79 (FAR) - $1Q = $2.79

Dozen Eggs @ $1

Chemistry Shampoo @ $7.99 (FAR)

Friskies Cat Food @ $5.49 (no sale or Q but we were OUT)

YIKES!! I intended this to be MUCH more helpful but I’m not able to figure out which Qs went with each products. So yeah, sorry about that. The above is skewed, but here are my totals:

Pre-Q Total: $57.xx
- $10/$40Q
- $13 Q
- $4.49 RR
- $25.25 (FAR items)
$5.26 TOTAL!!! Woo-Hoo!!!!

*in the perfect fall shade, Amber Ablaze. I love it!

Menu Planning Monday!

2008-09-15T06:27:00.000-07:00

Last week we only got half our meals in! Our well laid plans quickly went by the way-side with an unexpected visit from my sister and some other stuff that popped up. But that’s the beauty of meal planning, I knew what we were going to eat if we needed it and can just bump some meals to next week. This weeks plan is tentative as well, we may be having the in-laws over during the weekend. Not sure who or how many or when/how long, so not much can be set in stone at this point. So here is our rough plan:

Monday – Lemon Pepper Linguine, garlic bread, broccoli

Tuesday – ???

Wednesday – Enchiladas (carry over)

Thursday – Biscuits and Gravy (carry over)

Friday – Bon fire! Hot dogs, chips, etc.

Last week I tried a new recipe, Pizza Cobbler. It was good, I’ve included the recipe below.

Yesterday, I got a head start on meal prep for the week. I made the enchilada filling, baked 18 plain biscuits and 12 garlic cheddar biscuits and put those in the freezer for later this week. I also made oatmeal scotchie cookies and froze half the batch for later.

Pizza Cobbler (sorry this isn’t very exact)

Ingredients

Can of Biscuits
1.5 cups pizza sauce
cheese
Pizza Toppings (we used onion, green pepper, ½ pack of pepperoni)
Any spices
Dash of oil

Sauté onion and green pepper until tender (could also do mushrooms), add pizza/spaghetti sauce and some water (I did about ½ cup) to get consistency you like. Sprinkle any spices you like into the sauce mix. Let simmer for a few minutes until heated and a good consistency.

While this was heating I laid my pepperoni in a single layer on a paper towel lined plate and mircowaved them for about 45 seconds to get a bunch of grease out.

Pour sauce mix into a greased 2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle meat on top (pepperoni, ham, sausage, bacon, etc). Sprinkle cheese on top of meat.

Cut biscuits into quarters and drop on top of cheese layer.

Bake at 400 for about 20 minutes, until hot, bubbly and biscuits and cooked. I brushed ours with garlic butter when done cooking.

This worked out really well, as I put it together on Thursday night and just had hubby pop it in the oven when he got home. When I got home, dinner was ready! Yay!!

For more great meal plans, recipes and ideas, check out Menu Planning Monday hosted by Laura, the Organzing Junkie!

Eggs @ Wags

2008-09-13T04:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday while doing some Free After Rebate shopping to use my $10 off $40 coupon, I ran into a co-worker at Walgreens. She told me that the marquee outside the store was advertising eggs $1/dozen. Sure enough, that was the unmarked sale price. Woo-Hoo!! Check and see if your Walgreens has this unadvertised sale going on!

Freezer!

2008-09-12T06:04:00.000-07:00

Being Frugal has a post today asking about purchasing a freezer. Feel free to pop over and give her some input!

Last June my co-worker asked if I would like her old chest freezer, she was getting a new one. I jumped on the opportunity and was happy with it. It is kept in our unheated garage so during the winter it runs very little, if at all. For the first while, I didn’t use it much, I was single and lived alone. It didn’t make sense to stock-pile that much food.

Once I got married, the freezer got utilized much more! We used some of the money we received at our wedding to buy a whole NY Strip. We had it sliced into 18 steaks and have been enjoying them all summer long. I haven’t gotten into freezer cooking too much but am going to try it out more in the new few weeks.

When our freezer broke a few weeks ago, we were bummed and knew that a new one was needed. We searched and found that our tiny hometown “general” store had the best price. So we made plans to buy a freezer. Hubby went out to move the old freezer when he noticed it was humming. He opened it up and the ice cube tray we stuck in there for a test was frozen solid. What?? He consulted the best home sources he knows: His Dad and the Home Depot Book. After a little reading, he discovered that long running appliances shouldn’t be plugged into a GFCI outlet due to some electrical stuff I didn’t understand. Our freezer was plugged into a GFCI outlet. So after a quick trip to Home Depot for a new outlet, new ground wire and a few tools, the outlet is replaced and our freezer is back in running order!

$368 for a new freezer OR $20 for outlet, wire, wire strippers and other misc. Yay!

And the freezer “breaking” got me motivated to try freezing things differently by using bins/baskets/tubs/totes/crates in the freezer and keep like items grouped together. I had veggies buried under cheese under chicken under ice cream. Yikes! And I’m going to keep an inventory list, to keep a more even balance of food in stock. I had like 15 boxes of broccoli and cheese but only 1 bag of carrots. And a ton of cheddar but no mozzarella. And I’ll use the list to keep better tabs on what I actually have, I found some bags of mystery food with no date or anything (bad, bad, bad) so I just threw them away.

Sonshine has a great post about freezer cooking and links to lots of helpful info. She (and her posts with links) have been my motivation and inspiration after we got the freezer back running to do things differently and better!

Pumping Iron!

2008-09-11T07:16:00.000-07:00

I don’t like yard sales and don’t have the patience from second hand stores. How un-frugal is that? Its not because I don’t like used things but because I hate pawing through junk to find the elusive mega deal.
But know what I do love? Trading. Craigslist. Freecycle. Classified Ads. Working out. Saving Money. I’ve had a gym membership for about 3 years now. And during those 3 years I’ve lost and kept off a little over 40lbs. The gym membership isn’t terribly expensive, about $300/year, so a little less than $1/day. Easily justifiable in my mind. Prior to marriage, I’d workout from 5:00 pm (right after work) – 6:00pm or so at least 3 nights a week. But now hubby and I carpool together. He gets out of work at 5:30pm and doesn’t like working out. So I could cram about 15 minutes in between me getting out and going to pick him up. Or I wouldn’t workout at all and just take a walk when we got home. I was not utilizing my membership as much as I once was.
The time to renew my membership was fast approaching and I wasn’t sure if I should do it. So when a treadmill appeared on freecycle, I snagged it. It was okay but not built for running. I was a little bummed but whatever, it was free. Then I saw a $50 treadmill on craigslist and dragged hubby out to look at it with me. We bought it. Now I had 2 treadmills. So when a co-worker said she was looking for a treadmill, I offered her the extra. She said we could have her stair-stepper and Nordic-trek ski machine. Woo-Hoo!! All I now needed was some free weights. But whoa, those are expensive! $15 for 1 10lb dumbbell? I could do better then that. So to the classifieds I went and found a 110lb weight set for $35. Heck ya!
SO after some searching and trading I have a treadmill, weight set, Nordic-trek and stair climber for $85. Less than a year gym membership and the ability to work out whenever I what! Woo-Hoo!!

Taste Debate '08

2008-09-09T10:34:00.001-07:00

Finally a political debate I get a chance to weigh in on! Play Hostess 100 Calorie Packs "Taste Debate '08" and you'll receive a $0.50/off coupon via email. Just pick what Hostess 100 Calorie Pack you like better, Blueberry Muffin or Carrot Cake.

Things I love!

2008-09-09T09:16:00.001-07:00

Every Tuesday Sarah hosts "My Favorite Things" its fun to play along and you should check out what other people like!

This week I've choosen to right about a website that I absolutely LOVE, allrecipes.com! Hello, it has saved me many a time. My favorite feature is the ingredient look-up. Like when I had a ton of thawed bags of corn, I made corny casserole (our cheesy family name) and I've looked up so many other recipes. I usually end up combining my favorite features of a couple different recipes into my own creation. It has saved dinner many times!

Menu Planning Monday!

2008-09-08T07:16:00.001-07:00

Phew, last week went really smooth! The lemon chicken was a huge hit with the hubby. I used broccoli, green pepper (from our garden!) and onion as the veggies and served it over brown rice. He said “I never thought I’d eat brown rice, but its actually good!” He also really liked the Shake n Bake chicken and red beans and rice.

We also had corkscrew "spaghetti", hubby wanted different noodles and swore they tasted WAY better! I'm a little sad as this meal used up the last of our left wedding meatballs. We had meatballs at our reception and there were a ton left, so we froze them and used them in a ton of dishes but alas, they are no more.

This week’s menu has already gotten jumbled, we were going to have pork loin tonight but since I over slept an hour, there was no time for prep work/plugging in the crock-pot. We’ll just have it tomorrow night.

I baked blueberry muffins this weekend and sprinkled some Just Bunches cereal on them for a yummy topping. I got the box for $0.90! I also made sugar cookies and frosted them with leftover mocha-fudge frosting.

Here is what we’ll eat this week:

Monday: Chicken strips and broccoli-rice casserole (thank goodness for freezer stock!)

Tuesdays: Pork loin, mashed potatoes, corn

Wednesday: Biscuits and gravy, eggs

Thursday: Enchiladas, rice

Friday: Leftovers or frozen pizza

Saturday: On my own, hubby is going to his parents

Sunday: ?? Hubby still at his parents, I’m going to my grandparents

For more menu ideas, recipes and tips check out Menu Planning Monday hosted by Laura!

Magazine Clutter!

2008-09-03T08:14:00.000-07:00

Magazine clutter cost me money and I’m slowly coming to terms with that. How does it cost me money? Let me share my insights.

1. Its takes longer to clean! The more I have to clean around, move to dust/vacuum, etc the longer it takes me to clean. I don’t like cleaning and my time is valuable to me.

2. It makes me want more! I LOVE reading magazines and I get* quite the selection: Glamour, Newsweek, Marriage Today, Better Homes and Gardens, Metropolitan Home, Country Living, ReadyMade, All You and Woman’s Day. I also acquire (through my mom, sister or co-workers) Domino, Runner’s World and Martha Stewart Living. Hubby gets Automotive News, Auto Week and Outdoor World (or something like that). Then I see a gadget and think I HAVE to have it. Like the Garmin Forerunner, sure it’d be nice but not at that cost! I want nicer furniture, new curtains, matching place settings, etc.

3. I buy more! Hey look, Martha Stewart can make this, I’m sure I can too. Next thing I know I’ve spent $50 on supplies and just have a pile of junk to show. I’m no Martha, its okay.

4. Its messy! This is costly in terms of my allergies. Magazines are dust collectors, I’m highly allergic to dust. I’m sure you are making the connection and I finally did too….Obviously you are brighter than me. Its also a contradiction that I want a Better Homes and Gardens house but have piles of magazines every where.

5. Its not healthy! I love reading the recipe section, but most of the recipes are that healthy. Do I really need to be tempting myself with unhealthy recipes? Nope, my health is more important!

So last night I grabbed the biggest box I could find and loaded it with old magazines (I’m talking like 5 years old!) and then had to call Hubby to lug it to the curb for me. Side note: 5 years old….I moved twice in that time period, why did I lug magazines around each time? Today is recycling day and I’m lessening my magazine clutter.

* I actually only pay for Glamour, the rest I have received through free subscription offers. Sweet huh?

My Favorite Things!

2008-09-02T09:21:00.001-07:00

Each week Sarah posts about her favorite things and lets us join in on the fun too!

This week, I'm featuring RUNNING GEAR!

I'm a runner. Not always a fast runner or a happy runner, but a runner. I started running to lose weight and because it seemed easy. You just throw on shorts and sneakers and run, right? Well you can, and I did. But then I ran into some not-so fun problems such as chaffing, blisters, getting over heated, more chaffing and more blisters.

So I started by getting some different shorts and that helped. But not as much as my new love, the running skirt. I picked mine up at Target and just LOVE IT! Its cute and keeps me 100% covered! My sister/running partner has one too (she got it for her birthday from me!) and we feel so sassy wearing them to races.

For a wedding gift, Hubby took me to the Running Fit store and bought me a Brooks technical t-shirt and Brooks running socks. Both are pricy, but what a difference they have made!

The tech-T is sweat wicking, so I stay SO much cooler on long, hot runs. Plus it was created for runners, so no more chaffing along the seams.

Same deal with the socks. No more blisters or seams rubbing my toes. Yay!

I think these things made this my best summer of running. Set a new 5k PR (personal record) on 4th of July, then broke it yesterday with a time of 24:57! And started doing 5 mile runs. I love it!

Menu Planning Monday...on Tuesday!

2008-09-02T05:46:00.000-07:00

Last week was a crazy week since our chest freezer broke and I had a lot of food to deal with, mostly chicken. For more meal plans and recipes, check out the Org Junkie! Here is what we ate last week:

Monday: Creamed Chicken over biscuits/mashed potatoes, veggies

Tuesday: Leftover Creamed Chicken over biscuits/mashed potatoes

Wednesday: Chicken Cordon Bleu, mashed potatoes, summer squash, corn on the cob. Mixed leftover Chicken Cordon Bleu with noodles for a couple lunches.

Thursday: Taco Bell before getting groceries/running errands

Friday: Burgers on the grill, corn side dish, baked beans

Saturday: Lunch was leftover burgers, dinner was a campfire with friends

Sunday: Breakfast was pancakes, dinner was a fish fry at my parents. I brought mocha brownies…SO GOOD!

This week:
Monday: Spicy Shake n Bake chicken, red beans n rice, green beans, garlic bread

Tuesday: Spaghetti and garlic bread, corn on the cob

Wednesday: Steak on the grill

Thursday: Orange Chicken

Friday: Sandwiches or who knows, our weekend plans are 100% in the air, either we are staying home or go to our in-laws. If we go to the in-laws, I’ll pack sandwiches to eat on the way.

Recipes:
Disclaimer: Nothing is too complicated, I promise. You’ll probably be amazed and disgusted at how easy/convenience laden my meals are. Sorry.

Creamed Chicken:
Made chicken gravy (from packet) and mixed in a can of cream of chicken soup, soup can of milk, bag of frozen mixed veggies and chopped chicken. Added milk to right consistency and let heat through.

Chicken Cordon Bleu:
Took already cooked chunks of chicken breast (off the bone) and wrapped them in ham. Laid a piece of Swiss cheese on top of that. Mixed half a jar of alfredo sauce with the last bit of creamed chicken and some milk and spices and poured on top. Sprinkled with chopped ham, cheese and French fried onions. Baked until hot.

Awesome Burgers:
Took about 1.5lbs lean ground round, mixed with 1 egg, a bunch of A-1 and monetary steak seasoning. Grill to perfection!

My favorite thing

2008-08-26T13:26:00.000-07:00

My favorite thing this week are my bed risers! Hubby and I bought a set (actually 2 sets, we need 6 for our bed) from Bed, Bath and Beyond because they had the highest ones we could find, 8 inches!

Here is an actual picture of our bed with the risers:

Look at all that storage! I have most of my clothes in those nifty plastic drawers under the bed, so that means Hubby has the dresser and only needing one dresser leaves our bedroom feeling less stuffy and cluttered. Plus I feel like a princess sleeping on such a high bed. And we get a good laugh of the cat trying to jump on it.

Check out what other blogger's love on Sarah's blog!

argh

2008-08-26T05:30:00.000-07:00

Friday morning I went to take some meat out of our chest freezer to thaw for Sunday lunch when I noticed the chicken was already starting to thaw. A quick inspection confirmed my fears, the freezer broke! I quickly called my boss and said I wouldn't be in and starting stuffing food into the freezer above the fridge, hauling food to my parents to put in their freezer and cooking what was starting to thaw.

Thankfully, we were able to salvage almost everything. But in an effort to save space, I took 5 different flavors of Lean Pockets out of their boxes so now its mystery Lean Pockets for lunch :)

Frugal Lunches!

2008-08-21T05:41:00.000-07:00

When I first entered the "adult" world of working full time, I went out to lunch regularly, after all a $7 lunch was "only" worth about a 1/2 hour of work. I could afford that! Then I realized how much that $7 lunch was costing me financially and calorie wise. So I started packing my own and with few exceptions, haven't looked back since. This morning I whipped together 5 lunches and stuck them all in my freezer.

+ + = 5 frugal & tasty lunches!

I cooked 2 packages of Top Ramon ($.10/each), added in leftover chopped zucchini (free) and a pack of Crab meat (B1G2). Sprinkled on some parm cheese, garlic, chives, etc and portioned it out into 5 ziplock containers (3 of them were freebies from Homemade Simple) and stuck them in the freezer.

Something else great is that hubby won't touch the crab meat or the zucchini so its a treat for me to get such a tasty lunch!

So for about $2 (being generous with the spices), I have 5 lunches for $0.40/each! So much cheaper than eating out, or Lean Cuisine or Lean Pockets! And it took about 15 minutes max to make it (I was also doing dishes, packing Hubby's lunch and feeding the cat).

Next time leftovers aren't an option, I'll grab one of these guys and be ready to go!

Winners!

2008-08-20T10:33:00.000-07:00

Thanks to random.org for generating these winning numbers:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:16 4

Timestamp: 2008-08-20 17:32:10 UTC

Number 16 is: Seesawstar and she wins the group with the baby coupons!

Number 4 is: The Frugal Homemaker and she wins the general coupon group!

I'll be contacting you both for your mailing info. If I don't hear back within 2 days, I'll select someone else.

Thanks so much for playing, I've found some great new blogs because of the partcipants!!

Last Chance & Walgreens!

2008-08-20T05:09:00.001-07:00

Today is the last chance you have to enter my coupon giveaway, so click HERE!!

This morning I did a Walgreens run before work. I got:

2 boxes of Fiber One @ $1.99/each, used $1 and $0.70 off coupons = $2.28
2 boxes of Cinnamon Toast Crunch @ $1.99, used $1/2 boxes coupon = $2.98
USED $1.50/4 boxes of General Mills Cereal Walgreens Coupons = $3.76/4 boxes or $1.06/box
2 BioInfusions Conditioner @$5.99/each = $11.98 (Free After Rebate)
1 Jane Kubaki Make-up Brush = $4.99 (Free After Rebate)
3 Strawberry Jell-O @ $0.39/each (Walgreens Coupon) = $1.17, used Free Wheat Thins WYB 3 coupon

TOTAL BEFORE REBATES/COUPONS: $31.29
TOTAL AFTER COUPONS: $19.92
TOTAL AFTER COUPONS + REBATES: $3.25!

Thing I love!

2008-08-19T10:58:00.001-07:00

Know what I love? My Pampered Chef Cookie Scoop! My mom got me one for a bridal shower gift and I can’t live without it! I use it for so much more than just cookie dough scooping, I use it to:
- Scoop out the seeds of muskmelon or honeydew
- Making melon balls
- Neatly fill pans for muffins/cupcakes
- Mini ice cream cones
- Scooping filling for Chicken Broccoli Wreath/other foods
- Cake Pops

What to see what other bloggers love? Check it out at Sarah's Blog!

Do you want to win some free coupons? Enter HERE!

Coupons!

2008-08-19T06:48:00.000-07:00

So many coupons!

This weekend we were at my inlaws and they gave me a HUGE stack of coupon inserts they have been saving for me. Sadly some of the coupons were expired but thre are so many of them that I’m not sure I’ll get through them all.

I know that a lot of you don’t clip multiple inserts but keep them whole and just clip what they need, as they need it. How do you remember what coupon came from which insert?

But now that I have WAY more than enough coupons, I’ll be passing some on to the winners in my coupon giveaway. And at this rate, with just 3 contestants, your odds of winning are pretty dang good! So enter HERE

Menu Planning Monday!

2008-08-18T09:45:00.001-07:00

Here is our rough meal plan for the week. I’m not exactly sure the way it will go, but hey, I try! Need more ideas? Check out Laura's wonderful Menu Planning Monday post!

Monday: Porgies with marinara, garlic bread. I got a couple boxes of Mrs. T’s porgies for $0.16 last week. Yummy!!

Tuesday: Sandwich night! Also will have tator tots or fries and some fruit. I should have my first tomato and green pepper ready to harvest plus I picked up some lunch meat and cheese on sale last week.

Wednesday: Steak night! We used some of our wedding money to buy a rack of NY Strip and had it sliced into 18 steaks. We triple wrapped them and froze them. So now steak night is an expensive treat and Hubby loves grilling.

Thursday: Not sure, Hubby has softball at 5:30 and its just a season end fun game. Not sure how late this will go. Probably have sandwiches at the field.

Friday: Sandwiches or something else like that. Hubby is racing in a town about 2 hours away, so we’ll either pack the cooler or something.

Anybody have any picnic friendly alternatives to Sandwiches?

And a reminder to enter my coupon giveaway HERE!!

GIVEAWAY!!!!

2008-08-15T04:54:00.000-07:00

Each Sunday I buy an edition of the Grand Rapids Press for the coupons, its most local weekend paper that carries the coupons, even though I'm over 150 miles away from GR. This Sunday as I was flipping through it, eager to grab the coupons, I came across an article about Savings Angel. Savings Angel is a service that you subscribe to and it matches up coupons and store sales for the best deals possible. Here is the link to the article.

I've only watched the intro video and it appears to be West Michigan specific, but I was miffed when the guy kept proclaming that "Savings Angel Members got this shampoo for FREE" I wanted to tap and the screen and say "So did I and I don't subscribe to a service!"

Some of my favorite coupon + sales matching ladies are the girls at Mommy Snacks, Sisterly Savings, The Centsible Sawyer and Glimpse of Sonshine. And guess what? They don't charge me a thing to read the scenerios and get the deals! I'd love to able to utilize Fiddledeedee's awesome Publix deals, but no Publix are to be found in my area!

So to thank all the ladies who help me cut my grocery bill and to help other ladies cut their grocery bill, I'm going to offer a coupon giveaway!

I'll be giving away 2 groups of coupons!

Group #1 will contain Baby Coupons as well as other coupons (food, cleaners, general merchandise, etc)

Group #2 will contain a Misc. Collection of coupons (food, cleaners, general merchandise, etc)

I haven't clipped these coupons yet, but there will be at least 25 coupons in each group!

How can you enter? Leave me a comment below and include your contact info and what group you would prefer to win. You can get a second entry by blogging about this giveaway on your blog and linking it back to this giveaway. (just leave a second comment that you did)

Giveaway closes on Wednesday, August 20 at Noon! So be sure to enter and let your friends know too!

Cooking

2008-08-14T08:27:00.000-07:00

I like to cook and bake, a lot. I feel very successful and accomplished when I see satisfied grins on peoples' faces as they bite into something I made. But that doesn't mean making the food comes easy. Oh contraire. I typically sweat and struggle through recipes and end up calling mom for help or advice. Then I blog about the adventure for everyone to laugh at. The end result usually is fine but the way I got there is more often a little ugly.

And I'm horrible at making up recipes using what I have on hand. I get so flustered and scared, I just freak out and we end up having chicken tenders or something. But last night I wanted to make something yummy. So I put on my big girl pants and got to work using what I had in the fridge and cupboard.

I had a container of Chi-Chi's Mexican Chicken meat and some wheat tortillas. But tacos just sounded so blah. So I used my brain to come up with a recipe of my own. Its not the most homemade/complicated dish in the world, but it got rave reviews from Hubby.

1 container of Chi-Chi's Mexican Shredded Chicken (or something like that)
1 can of corn
6 tortillas (or so)
1 can of Enchillida Sauce
Shredded cheese

I mixed the corn, some cheese and the chicken together. I spooned some on to a tortilla and rolled it up and placed it seam side down in a greased 9x13 pan. When I used up the filling and the pan was full, I poured the enchillida sauce over it all and sprinkled on some cheese and baked it until it was hot. We topped it with salsa and sour cream. This was very tasty!

Next time I think I'll add some rice to the filling mixture. Would be good served with beans, rice, corn bread (personal favorite), guacamole, chips, etc.

I may not be Martha Stewart, but I sure try!

Bye Hair Junk!

2008-08-13T07:12:00.001-07:00

Sunday I got bit by the purge bug and hit the bathroom. After being diagnosed with blepharitis, my doctor said I shouldn’t wear eye shadow any more to try and control the flare ups. But I hadn’t thrown any of my beloved eye shadow away until Sunday.

I have VERY little space in my bathroom. I have a pedestal sink and when I first bought the house I wanted to replace it with a vanity. Sadly even the smallest vanity was too big for the bathroom. But I did find a narrow set of plastic drawers that fits between the tub and under the sink. Woo-hoo! Hubby has one drawer, one drawer is dedicated for hair dryer, curling iron, beard trimmer, etc and one drawer is mine. I also had a white bin the cabinet over the toilet that I stored more toiletries/make-up in. And there were piles of products on the back of the toilet (we have no counter!). So first I tackled the white bin and threw almost everything away except 1 bottle of foundation, 2 lipsticks, 1 power, 1 concealer, 1 mascara, 1 eye lash curler, 1 special occasion eye shadow compact, 1 eye liner and my make-up brushes! That all fits nicely into a make-up bag, so no more white bin. I then moved the stuff from the top of the toilet to the space previously occupied by the bin.

Then I hit my drawer. Talk about long-lost hair crap! I had more mousse, gel, hair spray, wax, crème, shine spray and volumizer than I would have used in years. And most of it was OLD, I remember using some of it in high school. So most of that got thrown away too. Now that drawer opens and closes freely. Yay, it feel so good to get rid of stuff.

And its frugal. Before I would buy make-up without a though because the white bin was large and of course I had room in the bin for it. Now I have very little extra room in my make-up bag, thus preventing random make-up purchases.

A Thing I Love!

2008-08-12T07:08:00.000-07:00

I love getting ideas from what other people love, so check out Sarah's blog for more things!

This might sound stupid, but I love Baby Shampoo! I have no children but its always in my bathtub for me to use. Why you may ask yourself is she taking up valuable shower space for Baby Shampoo? Well let me tell you why! #1 is because I have blepharitis and it makes my eyelids real icky. Washing them twice daily with Baby Shampoo helps SO much! #2 is that I love how gentle enough it is, I even shave with it if Walgreens and Rite Aid haven't had a sale on shaving cream. #3 is that I love the smell, very light and clean and won't interfere with my lotion or perfume #4 is that it rinses easily away and #5 is that its very inexpensive! (I buy store brand)

Menu Planning Monday!

2008-08-11T07:52:00.000-07:00

Menu Planning Monday! For more great meal ideas and recipes check out Laura’s blog!

Monday: Lemon Pepper Chicken, mashed potatoes, veggie

Tuesday: Turkey Sandwiches, Pringles, fruit (before softball)

Wednesday: Chicken Tacos

Thursday: Hubby Golfing, I’ll have whatever

Friday – Sunday: At the in-laws for a wedding

Last week I had very few meals planned, but what I planned we ate, so that was a bonus!!

Woo-Hoo Walgreens x2!!!

2008-08-08T07:14:00.000-07:00

Last night I made another Walgreens stop because I had time to kill and coupons to use!

I bought:
2 bottles L'Oreal Hydrogloss Shampoo - $5/bottle
Used a BOGO Raincheck and a BOGO Coupons = $0!
2 boxes of Russel Stover Chocolates - $6/box
Clearance for $2.99/box, used 2 $2 off Coupons = $0.99/box!
1 pack dark chocolate M&Ms - $0.75
Clearance for $0.42!
1 box of dried fruit - $1
Needed these for a snack mix
1 box of an adult product (just keeping it clean;) - $10
Clearance for $2

So my total was $5.68, used a $5 RR, so total was $0.68 OOP!!

The dark Chocolate M&Ms are for me! The Russell Stover Chocolates are for co-worker's birthdays!

Only downside - I haven't been able to buy any FAR items yet, they have always been sold out! Hopefully they get some stuff in soon!!

Woo-Hoo Walgreens!!

2008-08-06T12:28:00.001-07:00

I had my best Walgreens trip to date today! I didn’t have much time to put together a scenario, so I went there and sorta winged it. Which was obvious when I went to check out and I realized that I mixed up the 2 Kellogg’s snack RR deals up. But the nice cashier, helped me figure it all out!

This is what I got:
1 box of Corn Pops - $2.50
1 box Raisin Bran crunch - $2.50
1 box Raisin Bran - $2.50
2 boxes Smart Start - $5
1 box Frosted Flakes - $2.50
2 boxes Fudge Stripe Cookies - $4
2 boxes Rice Krispies - $4
1 box Cheez-Its - $2
2 bags Life Savers - $1.99 (on sale BOGOF)
2 Welches Juice - $3.38 (the only thing that sounds good for my sore throat)

TOTAL: $30.37

Coupons Used:
$1/2 Welches – August Easy Saver
$1/2 Smart Start
$1/2 Kellogg’s Cereal
$1/2 Cookies
$1/2 Raisin Bran/ Raisin Bran Crunch
$1/2 Rice Krispies
BOGOF Life Savers

NEW TOTAL: $22.38

Participating in buy 10 Kellogg’s products, get $10 and I got $10RR SO over all I only spent $2.38 for everything!!

I know I bought more snacky foods than normal, but they will last a long time carefully rationed out in Hubby’s lunch!

And yes, I made an error, which resulted in me buying 11 Kellogg’s products (I only need 10 for the $10 rebate), but heck, I’m only human. And still SO pleased with my deals!

A favorite thing!

2008-08-05T05:02:00.001-07:00

I missed participating in this last week, so I'm glad its back today! To see more things that your fellow bloggers love, check out Sarah's blog!

One of my favorite things are New Balance Shoes! I love New Balance Shoes! When I first started running, I wore New Balances because they were the only athletic shoes I owned. I then tried another brand and hated them, they fit my feet horrible! So now I've moved back to New Balance and swear by them!

My feet overpronate wickedly and have no arch, with other shoes I'm pretty much running on the sides of my feet, but not with New Balance! Their stability shoes with N-Lock are amazing, its like having little braces holding my feet secure. And boy are they comfy. And they wear awesome. Once they get too worn out for running, I still can wear them around for walking, errands, etc for at least another year, they look great!

Plus New Balance has a committment to manufacturing in the US. They are very competively priced and have great training gear.

Another thing? I love their current Love/Hate ads! The last one I read in Runner's World totally cracked me up, because they capture the love/hate relationship every runner feels with the sport.

I could go on and on about New Balance from their amazing fit and choices in size and width to their reputable and respectable company. But then you might think I was paid to do this and I wasn't!

2008-08-04T07:14:00.000-07:00

Menu Planning Monday! For more great meal ideas and recipes check out Laura’s blog!

Monday: Egg Salad Sandwiches, Pringles, Grapes (picnic before softball)

Tuesday: BBQ pork sandwiches, tator tots, corn on the cob

And that’s where I fall blank! I just haven’t been good this weekend at planning out my menu, I was too busy clipping ALL the coupons yesterday. So if you have any ideas for me, let me know!!

We didn’t do well at all this week sticking to our menu. Bold is what we ate, italics is what was planned.

Monday: Went out for Chinese. Used money hubby got from returning some tow straps we don’t need. Smoked Sausage and Scalloped Potatoes (once again trying this meal), fruit salad

Tuesday: Smoked Sausage and Scalloped Potatoes (finally!!), fruit salad, steamed zucchini and summer squash. Pasta with chicken and veggies, garlic bread

Wednesday: I ate Burger King on the way home from the Island, Hubby had Taco Bell before golf. BBQ pork sandwiches, tator tots, corn on the cob

Thursday: Meatballs, mashed potatoes, corn and biscuits. Meatballs, mashed potatoes, broccoli

Friday: Mom and dad brought over pizza and we ate on the patio. Frozen pizza/leftover buffet

Saturday: Sish-ka-bobs! We had everything for them except for the sticks. A perfect summer meal. date night!

Sunday: Date Night (actually more like afternoon). We went to Red Lobster and it was only $13.xx with a coupon. Not too shabby!

Bye, bye, bye!

2008-08-01T07:35:00.000-07:00

Last night I did something big and it feels so liberating! I paid off my Capital One bill and as soon as the check clears, I'll be closing the account!

I've had my Capital One Credit Card account since I was 18 and NEVER carried a balance on it until December 2006. I used it mainly for gas the entire time I had it and the occassional internet shopping excursion and had no problems paying it in full, on time. Until I got a bill in December 2006. Among the charges I expected to see, I found 4 charges for gas in Brooklyn, NY. I live in Northern Michigan and have never, ever been to Brooklyn. I quickly called Capital One and explained that while I never lost my card, my number had been obviously been compromised. The phone call its self was a trying experiance (over 90 minutes and 6 customer service reps). A couple weeks later I got a new bill, with the fradulent charges removed, I paid my legitimate charges in full and waited. A few months later, I got another Capital One bill. I had stopped using my Capital One card at all after the fradulent charges appeared. This bill was for the amount of the legitimate charges, charges I had already paid for! I contacted my bank and they confirmed that my payment had been deducted from my account by Capital One. Capital One denied ever receiving payment and started tacking on crazy late fees and interest. I contacted the Better Business Bureau and they were able to get some of my money back, but not all of it. By this time my balance reached over $700, the initial legitimate charges were just a tad over $150. I was and still am furious about this whole mess and have since quit using my Capital One card. This whole ordeal took over a year to clear up! Ridiculous, I know!

So now, imagine my relief and joy over the fact I've paid this card off and will forever be done with Capital One!

I scream, we all scream!

2008-07-31T07:23:00.000-07:00

I love ice cream. LOVE IT! And I just so happen to live within walking distance from my favorite ice cream place, Tasty Treat. But at $1.75 for a small (granted a small equals at least 2 big scoops), it was just too pricey for a frugalite like myself to go there often. But I still want ice cream treats!

Solution: Buying ice cream treats on sale with coupons!! A few weeks ago I purchased M&M Ice Cream treats on sale for 1/2 price + $1 off coupon, so it was about $1.30 for a box of 5! This week, I picked up 2 boxes of Eskimo Pie ice cream treats on sale for $2.50 a box + $1 coupon, so thats $1.50 for a box of 6! So at $0.25 a treat, I can have my ice cream and eat it too :)

So instead of walking to Tasty Treat for ice cream, we grab a treat from the freezer and headout for a walk along the lake for much cheaper!

Not so Frugal

2008-07-29T08:01:00.000-07:00

This week is going to be not so frugal for us. Last night after running an errand we decided that chinese sounded good for dinner and ended up going out. Granted it wasn't planned, but it was a lot of fun to have an impromptu date.

Tomorrow I'm taking an uplanned trip to visit my sister! She works on Mackinac Island and tomorrow my mom and youngest sister are going up to see her. So I decided to take the day off of work and head up too. The Island is a ton of fun and luckily she works at a bike shop and can get us free rentals. We are taking a picnic lunch so that will also cut an expense.

Look! Its the sisters + Hubby!

Saturday is date night, I half-heartedly tried negotiating date night away this week since we went out last night, but didn't care that Hubby stayed firm. It will almost be our 2 year anniversary of our first date (August 5, 2006).

So we are going out extra this week, but I'm totally looking forward to the fun this week promises to hold!

Menu Planning

2008-07-28T04:44:00.000-07:00

Monday: Smoked Sausage and Scalloped Potatoes (once again trying this meal), fruit salad

Tuesday: Pasta with chicken and veggies, garlic bread

Wednesday: BBQ pork sandwiches, tator tots, corn on the cob

Thursday: Meatballs, mashed potatoes, broccoli

Friday: Frozen pizza/leftover buffet

Saturday: date night!

This is sorta sparse, so for more menu ideas check out all the wonderful contributors at Org Junkie's Menu Planning Monday!

What we actually ate, compared to the plan (what we actually ate is in bold):

Monday: Meatloaf, baked potatoes, veggie, Meatloaf, baked potatoes, veggie (I made double of this and brought it to the family from church who needed a meal)

Tuesday: Turkey Sandwiches before softball, Turkey Sandwiches before softball (the game was rained out, but I made the sandwiches so we ate them)

Wednesday: Cheesy broccoli and chicken casserole Kielbasa and potatoes (3rd week on menu!)

Thursday: Leftover cheesy broccoli and chicken casserole leftovers or something from freezer as we will be baking/prepping for the Family Reunion

Friday: Stopped at McDonald’s as I had a free kids meal coupon (I’m still a kid!)Sandwiches in car on way to reunion

Saturday & Sunday: Family Reunion!! So of course I ate WAY too much but I ran Sunday morning so…I should be fine

Help!!

2008-07-24T06:44:00.000-07:00

I'm looking for help on a couple things!

1- Coupon Trading: I don't have access to a printer, so I can't print off coupons. I'd love to trade coupons with someone who is willing to print coupons off for me. I have baby coupons to trade or others, just ask!

2- Canning! I've never canned, my mom has never canned, so I have no clue anything about it. It seems to be good to do, but I have no clue if it is feasible for a girl like me. What do I need to get started, what do I do? I have all sorts of questions!

Meijer

2008-07-24T06:18:00.000-07:00

Last night I did some grocery shopping at Meijer. It was one of those weeks that I didn't have a lot of sales + coupon deals and we needed some non-sale items. But I did end up saving $23 on a $42 grocery bill, so not too shabby I guess. I was really bummed that Meijer mealbox took their $0.50 frozen veggie coupon down since those veggies were on sale for $1/bag.

I ended up making that family meatloaf, baked potatoes, corn and brownies. Nothing saucy!

Menu-Planning Monday!

2008-07-21T08:33:00.001-07:00

What we will be eating this week:

Monday: Meatloaf, baked potatoes, veggie

Tuesday: Turkey Sandwiches before softball

Wednesday: Kielbasa and potatoes (3rd week on menu!)

Thursday: leftovers or something from freezer as we will be baking/prepping for the Family Reunion

Friday: Sandwiches in car on way to reunion

Saturday & Sunday: Family Reunion!! We are bringing Peanut Butter Cake and other things TBD

Need some more inspiration? (I don't blame ya if you do!) Check out Laura's blog for tons more meal plans and ideas!!

What we ate last week (how close we stuck with our meal plan):

Monday: Salsa Chicken, Yellow Rice, Chocolate Brownie Pudding, Salsa Chicken, Yellow Rice, Chocolate Brownie Pudding. Right on, Woo-Hoo!!

Tuesday: Softball Tailgate, Softball Tailgate. So far, 2 for 2!

Wednesday: Hubby ate leftovers (golf was rained out), I was out, Out to eat

Thursday: I ate leftovers, hubby golfed, potatoes and kielbasa in crock pot. We didn’t get to this one again!

Friday: Wedding, Wedding

Saturday: Turkey sandwiches in car, for dinner had leftovers

Sunday: Chicken Broccoli Wreath, Caesar Salad

Help!!

2008-07-17T13:13:00.000-07:00

I'm taking dinner to a young family in our church on Monday night (the mom just had a pretty serious surgery). Problem is that they don't like sauces or condiments. Basically I can't eat anything without sauce on it!

What should I make them??

So far...

2008-07-17T11:57:00.000-07:00

I've received awesome mail this week!!
- Free sample of Settle's Best Coffee
- Free Kotex gift pack
- Free Kotex sample
- Gillette Body Wash sample
- Pinecone Research Check
- Wishbone Rebate
- Rite Aid Rebate

At Meijer I scored 3 bottles of laundry detergent, 30lbs of Arm and Hammer cat litter and groceries (grapes, Land O'Frost lunchmeat, milk, applesauce cups, M&M Ice Cream Treats, Dole Salad, Granola Bars) for $38.98, saving $38.20!! It was a great deal on laundry detergent and the kitty litter.

At Walgreens this morning I got 2 tubes of Crest, 2 boxes of Cereal (Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Golden Grahams) and another box of granola bars for $5.39, saving $11.42!! It was actually $0 OOP since I used my Walgreens Rebate gift card.

Sadly my Walgreens was out of the L'Oreal Hydrogloss Shampoo which would have been free (On sale BOGOF, I have a BOGOF coupon) the same sale is at Rite Aid, but I'm not holding my breath!

Oh I love.....

2008-07-15T05:21:00.000-07:00

This morning I was washing dishes at 5:25 am (I hate coming home to dirty dishes) and as I was scrubbing away I thought "Man, I love my pyrex stuff!".

So thats my favorite thing for this week, my 6 piece pyrex set. I have 3 rectangular dishes and 3 lids in 3 different sizes.

I got them as a shower gift and I thought "Great, another storage set" but no, its SO much more! I can bake in it, freeze in it and microwave in it. Plus the lids make for easy, spill-proof storage and transportation. I even keep baked goods (cookies, cupcakes, etc) in them instead of plastic bags.

Here is what Pyrex says about their product:

• PYREX® glassware products can go directly from refrigerator or freezer to a microwave, convection, or preheated conventional oven. A small amount of liquid should be added to the ovenware vessel prior to baking foods that release liquids while cooking.

• PYREX glassware is non-porous glass, so it won’t absorb food flavors, odors, or stains.

• PYREX glassware is non-reactive, so acid-based recipes, including tomato-based sauces, lemon-infused dishes and vinegar-based poultry sauces can be prepped and baked without affecting the result of the recipe.

• Made in America, PYREX glass products are microwave and dishwasher safe.

Want to know what other bloggers consider their favorite things? Click here!

2008-07-14T06:03:00.000-07:00

I’m so proud of Hubby and I, we are doing so well at eating at home lately. This weekend it was tempting to either go out or run to the store for a few things but Hubby reminded me that we should eat from the pantry/freezer and we did. Tonight we have eye doctor appointments at 6 and 6:30, very tempting to grab some take-out on the way home, instead dinner is in the crock-pot!

Saturday: Chicken Broccoli Wreath*, Chocolate Brownie Pudding (not quite the same recipe I used, but close enough)

Sunday: Spaghetti, Homemade Garlic Toast, Chocolate Brownie Pudding

Monday: Salsa Chicken*, Yellow Rice, Chocolate Brownie Pudding

Tuesday: Softball Tailgate Party (we are bringing 3 packs of buns, they are only $0.99 at the bread store!)

Wednesday: Hubby-Golfing, Me-Bachelorette Party

Thursday: Potatoes and Kielbasa* in crock-pot (carried over from last week)

Friday: Wedding

Need more recipe/menu inspiration? Check out Laura's Menu Planning Monday!

* = New Recipe! I've only been married 2 months and feel like we eat the same things all the time, so for the next couple weeks, I'm going to be trying some new things. Hubby and I went through cookbooks this weekend and listed recipes that we want to try and that don't call for off the wall ingredients or are super unhealthy. I had to gently break it to hubby that almost everything in my Paula Deen Cookbook is too unhealthy (I know, I love butter, mayo, cheese and bacon as much as the next person, but still...)

Stay tuned: On Friday, I'll update and let you all know how well we did this week, sticking to our plan!

Menu Planning Follow-Up

2008-07-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

I make a meal plan but we don’t always stick with it. Here is what we actually ate this week. What is in bold is what I said we’d eat.

Monday: Peanut Chicken Peanut Chicken Bowl! I cooked 3 bone-in chicken breasts in the crockpot while I was at work.

Tuesday: Turkey and Cheese Sandwiches Turkey and Cheese Sandwiches and Pringles driving from work to Hubby’s softball game.

Wednesday: Taco Bell or Homemade Breakfast Sandwiches Chicken salad Sandwiches (used leftover chicken from Peanut Chicken. Was also able to put some chicken into the freezer for another meal), Pasta Salad and Watermelon (Pasta Salad and Watermelon were weekend leftoevers)

Thursday: Sausage and Potato Bake Steak on the grill, tater tots, baked beans. Hubby wanted to grill, so we decided to do that.

Friday: Camping! We are quasi-camping! Hubby works tomorrow morning, so he has a ½ day today. I’m taking a ½ day off and we are going early, then leaving tonight. But dinner will be at the campout.

I don’t think we did too shabby this week! We did splurge on Blizzards after Softball because we had a BOGOF coupon for joining the Blizzard Lover’s Club. And it was hot. And its practically a law that you have to get ice cream after a softball game. Seriously.

Freebies!

2008-07-11T05:29:00.000-07:00

What can YOU get for free?

Stayfree Pads

Tampax Pearl Tampons

Frugonomics 101 has great freebies!

7-11 is giving away 7.11oz Slurpees today!! (I wish there was one where I live!)

What did I get for Free this week?

2 bottles of Herbal Essence! I combined the sale at Rite Aid, with the $2 rebate and a $3/2 coupon!

Sample of Pantene Color Expressions Shampoo

Sample of Multi-Grain Cheerios

Free Poweraid! On sale for $0.59 at Meijer, used $0.75 coupon

Free KY Warming Massage Oil. Little size is $1.67 at Walmart, used $2 off Coupon. This will be a great filler in the Bachelorette Party Gift for the party I'm attending next week.

Free Crest Toothpaste at Rite Aid! I combined sale and a coupon!

Metropolitain Home Magazine

Sample of Playtex Personal Cleansing Clothes

Wholesome Goodness at Wal-Mart

2008-07-09T11:43:00.000-07:00

I went to Wal-Mart today to pick up a bag of Meow Mix Wholesome Goodness to use my $2 off 3lb bag or larger coupon. The 3lb bagged was marked $4.22 and the 6lb bag was marked $7.48. Well off I went with my 3lb bag, but on the end cap the 6lb bags were reduced to $5.50 a bag. I grabbed one of those instead, so for $3.50 I got 6lbs of cat food!

My favorite thing

2008-07-08T05:41:00.000-07:00

What am I currently loving? My ceiling fan in our bedroom!! When I was single I slept in the downstairs bedroom but as Hubby made plans to move into my house, we decided to make the upstairs bedroom "our" bedroom. And it has a lovely ceiling fan in it that is directly over our bed. It provides the perfect breeze on steamy nights to help us sleep comfortably. If I had known the joys of having a ceiling fan, I would have had one installed in the downstairs bedroom!!

Check out more things that make peoples lives more enjoyable by clicking here.

Menu Planning Monday!

2008-07-07T08:15:00.000-07:00

Its that time again! Time to get menu ideas and inspirations from others across the blog-o-sphere. For tons of ideas, recipes, hints and tricks check out Org Junkie's Menu Planning Monday!

What are we eating this week?

Monday: Peanut Chicken Bowl. This is a carry over from last week because we just didn't get around to it. The chicken is cooking in the crock pot as I type this!

Tuesday: Sandwiches (Turkey and Cheese) before Hubby's 6 pm softball game (he gets out of work at 5:30 pm). Probably some leftovers or frozen pizza when we get home after the game.

Wednesday: If we go to church, Taco Bell. If we stay home we will have breakfast sandwiches (egg, cheese, sausage on an english muffin) with hash browns and fruit.

Thursday: Sausage and Potato Bake. I'm looking for some sort of scalloped potato with sausage (kielbasa) recipe. Can you help me?

Friday: Camping! We are going on a young adults camping trip from church. Others are in charge of food, so no worries there!

Meijer Eggs & More

2008-07-03T07:38:00.001-07:00

Yesterday at Meijer a dozen large eggs were $0.58! That was the cheapest I've seen in a LONG time! I grabbed 2 dozen and hoped that someone out there (that'd be you) could tell me if they can be frozen. They also had Meijer Brand Peanut Butter unadvertised for $2.49, usually $4.99 (big jars). But they were already gone! So you might want to hurry to your Meijer and see if they have these deals too!

How did I do grocery shopping last night? Not to shabby! I saved $25.54, paid $33.75 for about a 31% savings.

Here are a few of the deals I got:

Buy 1 Hershey Bar 6 pk ($1.99), 1 Meijer Graham Cracker ($1.99), get One Meijer Marshmallow FREE. I used the Meijer Mealbox coupon for $1 off a box Meijer Graham Crackers to sweeten the deal;)

2 Lawrey's Marinades, $1 each, used 2 $0.50 off coupons

2 packs of Meijer Buns for $0.88/each (Cheaper than the bread store!!)

There is more, but time is short, so check out the Grocery Gathering for more Meijer sales + Coupon matches!

Bath and Body Works!

2008-07-03T07:21:00.000-07:00

I love Bath and Body works, especially the Patricia Wexler Acnostat line. Even though its a bit pricey, it actually works on my acne and prevents wrinkles! Its the best of the both worlds!

Know what else I love about them? You can use your $10 off $30 coupon code on the bottom of the reciept (for doing a quick survey) and another coupon on the same purchase!

This might come in handy with the last few days of the semi-annual sale. Trust me, these make great additions to the gift closet!

Last week I bought a face wash and night lotion for $36. I used the $10 off $30 coupon, a $10 gift card and a coupon for free lip product. Not too shabby and on my reciept I got another chance to get the $10 off $30 coupon. And the best part? They don't expire!! My reciept that I used was from February! I can't wait to go back, get the free lotion with any purchase.

No printables available? Thats okay! They usually give me coupons for freebies with my purchase!

My favorite thing!

2008-07-01T05:29:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I draw a big fat blank when I want to play along with Sarah's "My Favori te Things", but this morning it came to me as I was getting ready for work.

I love Maybelline Great Lash mascara! Its always a great price, covers my lashes wonderfully, making them look nice and thick without being all clumpy. Plus I can layer coats for more drama if I want to "oomph" up my look a little bit. I basically love it and would be devestated if Maybelline quit making it!

Menu Planning Monday!

2008-06-30T06:39:00.000-07:00

Our Yummy Menu:

Monday: BBQ Pork, fruit salad, roasted potatoes (see recipe below)

Tuesday: Baked tilapia, garlic noodles (noodle-a-roni) with broccoli

Wednesday: Peanut Chicken Bowl - I use whatever veggies we have on hand and have even used frozen stir-fry or other veggies.

Thursday: BBQ Chicken, pasta salad, veggies

Friday: cook-out maybe?

Saturday: cook-out maybe?

Sunday: cook-out maybe?

I’m not sure what our weekend plans on, we’d like to cook-out once, so it just depends on what else we decide to do. I also have spaghetti fixings and stuff for stroganoff depending on when we are home during the long weekend.

For more delicious recipes and menu ideas click here.
Roasted Potatoes:

4-5 potatoes
Olive Oil
Seasonings (I like onion soup packets)

Scrub and dice potatoes (with skin on), place in a bowl. Pour some oil over and sprinkle with seasoning. Amount of oil and seasonings depend on amount of potatoes. Roast in 425 degree over at least a half hour, or until potatoes are done. I think having “hot” potatoes rounds out a sandwich meal.

Meijer!

2008-06-27T08:38:00.001-07:00

First, I'll tell you about a Meijer Special Savings sale this weekend. Check out the flier here.

Second, Hubby and I went grocery shopping last night. We spent $35.19 and we saved $37.45!! We got some great deals including:

- 2 bags of tostitos = BOGOF, combined with 2 coupons for save $0.55 when you buy the chips and a dip.

- 2 tostitos dips (nacho cheese and creamy spinach) = using coupon above and 2/$6, including the big size!

- 2 bags frozen Talapia = BOGOF, combined with 2 coupons for save $2 from Meijer Meal Box

- 2 Chi-Chi's taco meat = BOGOF, combined with 2 coupons for $1 off

- 2 Fiber One yogurt 6 packs = 5/$10, combined with 2 coupons for $1 off

There were other things like lunch meat, apples, grapes, ramen, etc but those were my deals!

Today I'm off to Walgreens to work some June/July Easy Saver overlap deals and rock my $5/$20 Coupon, Wal-Mart to get some freebies and Bath and Body for some lotion and lip gloss (Thanks Marcy!!).

Bargain Hunting Wife

3-2-1 - NO BLOG!

Menu Planning Monday!

Things I love Thursday...er...Friday

Menu Planning Monday

Two on the Town

See Ya Later 2008!

Coupons & Deals!

Blessed!

Not feeling the love!

Frugal Ways Spread

Winner!

Frugal Christmas Fun!

Pay it Forward

Menu Planning Monday

Crossing the Line?

Walgreens!

Healed!

Soup

Deals Galore!

Thankful

Things I love!

Menu Planning Monday

Razor Love!

Time to head to the store!

Baking Day!

Menu Planning Monday!!

Coupons Heads Up!

Frugal Finds and Eats!

Last Chance!

Menu Planning Monday!

Happy Birthday!

Not so frugal

Things I love!

Menu Planning Monday

Walgreens

Menu Planning Monday

Cooking School 101 - Cumin does not equal Cloves

Hostess with the Mostest....or not

My Favorite Thing

Menu Planning Update!!

Menu Planning Monday

*sigh*

Snow Blower

Menu Planning Monday

Blessed!

Lunch

My favorite thing!

Menu Planning Tuesday

Rite Aid & Walgreens

Favorite Things!

Menu Planning Monday

Wags love!

Menu Planning Monday!

Eggs @ Wags

Freezer!

Pumping Iron!

Taste Debate '08

Things I love!

Menu Planning Monday!

Magazine Clutter!

My Favorite Things!

Menu Planning Monday...on Tuesday!

My favorite thing

*argh*

Frugal Lunches!

Winners!

Last Chance & Walgreens!

Thing I love!

Coupons!

Menu Planning Monday!

GIVEAWAY!!!!

Cooking

Bye Hair Junk!

A Thing I Love!

Menu Planning Monday!

Woo-Hoo Walgreens x2!!!

Woo-Hoo Walgreens!!

A favorite thing!

Bye, bye, bye!

sigh

argh