Monday, January 31, 2011
Blogger Sarah Says is giving away a $20 Amazon gift card
Go here and enter to read her post about giving away a $20 Amazon gift card in honor of reaching 50 followers. I entered and really hope I win this one so I can purchase some books for my Kindle.
More snow on its way
We watched the news this morning to find out that more snow is on the way for tomorrow and possible ice storm for Wednesday. I don't mind snow but I'm not a big fan of ice on roads. At this point all I can do is hope the school has air conditioning because it is starting to look like the kids will have to go all summer to make up for these snow days. j/k The kids and I love playing in the snow but there is so much snow on the ground that the kids can't walk in it with out falling continuously. I can barely walk in it at this point. I think we should make a snow fort/hut/igloo this week so at least they can enjoy it that way.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Grocery Shopping day today.
Started with a budget of $80. I had cash so I had to be careful not to go over. This is a good tip for anyone trying to stick to a budget. Take cash and leave your checkbook, debit and credit cards at home. You will stick to your budget one way or the other (being careful or taking things off your order at cash register). I went to three stores.
The first stop was McQuades because I only needed a few things from there. 2 Heluva Good Cheese bars 2/$3, 2 Gallons of Best Yet Milk $2.39 and 1 lb Land O' Lakes Cheese from the Deli. Total $11.83- $1 coupon for Heluva Good cheese and $1 coupon for LOL Cheese = $9.83
Second stop was Shaws. I won't type out everything I bought on here b/c I've already done that in an Excel spreadsheet and quit frankly I am to tired to do it again. ;) I'll give you the bottom line though. Total before sales and coupons was $177.28. Total after sales $120.30. Total coupons used $67.00. Total OOP (Out of Pocket) $53.30 I had a little trouble with one transaction here where a $10 coupon didn't print but the service desk fixed it by giving me $10 cash. So my total OOP was really $43.30
My third and final stop was at Stop and Shop. I really wanted to pick up a couple packs of boneless skinless chicken breast that they have on sale for $1.99 but they were sold out when I got there. Not a big deal b/c we will pick some up later in the week but I had to think fast and see what other meat was on sale that I could cook this week. I ended up buying a package of chicken leg quarters (don't know how I'm going to cook them yet) and a pack of cube steak. I also bought red seedless grapes, bag of lettuce, Oscar Mayer smoked turkey, Oscar Mayer Honey Ham, vegetable oil, bag of S&S chips, S&S butter (4 stick pack), Big Daisy Bread, Suave shampoo and a Suave conditioner. Total before savings $41.13. I saved $12.24 in sales, $0.15 for reusable bags and $3 in coupons. Total after Savings $26.02 (includes tax).
Total Spent $79.15
I'll come up with my new meal plan for the week tomorrow and post it.
By the way, I forgot to mention that I did this with my two year old in tow. Oh my! It is much easier by myself but she added some interest to my day for sure.
The first stop was McQuades because I only needed a few things from there. 2 Heluva Good Cheese bars 2/$3, 2 Gallons of Best Yet Milk $2.39 and 1 lb Land O' Lakes Cheese from the Deli. Total $11.83- $1 coupon for Heluva Good cheese and $1 coupon for LOL Cheese = $9.83
Second stop was Shaws. I won't type out everything I bought on here b/c I've already done that in an Excel spreadsheet and quit frankly I am to tired to do it again. ;) I'll give you the bottom line though. Total before sales and coupons was $177.28. Total after sales $120.30. Total coupons used $67.00. Total OOP (Out of Pocket) $53.30 I had a little trouble with one transaction here where a $10 coupon didn't print but the service desk fixed it by giving me $10 cash. So my total OOP was really $43.30
My third and final stop was at Stop and Shop. I really wanted to pick up a couple packs of boneless skinless chicken breast that they have on sale for $1.99 but they were sold out when I got there. Not a big deal b/c we will pick some up later in the week but I had to think fast and see what other meat was on sale that I could cook this week. I ended up buying a package of chicken leg quarters (don't know how I'm going to cook them yet) and a pack of cube steak. I also bought red seedless grapes, bag of lettuce, Oscar Mayer smoked turkey, Oscar Mayer Honey Ham, vegetable oil, bag of S&S chips, S&S butter (4 stick pack), Big Daisy Bread, Suave shampoo and a Suave conditioner. Total before savings $41.13. I saved $12.24 in sales, $0.15 for reusable bags and $3 in coupons. Total after Savings $26.02 (includes tax).
Total Spent $79.15
I'll come up with my new meal plan for the week tomorrow and post it.
By the way, I forgot to mention that I did this with my two year old in tow. Oh my! It is much easier by myself but she added some interest to my day for sure.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Two recipe raves from yesterday
We went over to a friends house last night for dinner and she made home made macaroni and cheese in the crock-pot. I love home made mac & cheese so I couldn't wait to try it. The recipe did not disappoint. It was so good I am planning on making it later this week for us. I made Pudding Poke Cake for dessert. It was so easy and inexpensive to make and delicious. Here are the recipes.
CROCK POT MACARONI & CHEESE
Ingredients:
1 16 ounce box Barilla Elbow macaroni (cooked til al dente)
1/2 stick of butter
16 ounces of sharp cheddar cheese, grated
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
1 (10 3/4 oz) can condensed Cheddar Cheese soup
1/2 teasp salt (I omit this)
1 cup of whole milk (may sub low fat, but why?)
1/2 teasp dry mustard
1/2 teasp fresh cracked black pepper
Directions: While the macaroni is cooking...In a separate pan, mix butter and cheddar cheese. Heat on low/med until the cheese is melted. In a slow cooker, combine the cheese/butter mixture and add the eggs, sour cream, soup, salt, milk, mustard and pepper and stir well with a whisk. Then add drained macaroni and stir again with large spoon. Set the cooker to low and cook for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.
For those of you missing the crunchy bread crumb topping, you may make that separately and serve on the side, but really, it doesn't need it!
I borrowed this from the food network and tweaked it a bit...Enjoy!
Pudding Poke Cake
Original Recipe Yield 1 - 9x13 inch cake
Ingredients
* 1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
* 2 (3.9 ounce) packages instant chocolate pudding mix
* 1 cup confectioners' sugar
* 4 cups milk
Directions
1. Prepare and bake cake mix according to package directions for one 9x13 inch cake. Remove cake from oven. Poke holes at once down through cake to pan with the round handle of a wooden spoon. Holes should be at 1 inch intervals.
2. Combine the pudding mix with the confectioners' sugar and gradually stir in the milk. Beat with an electric mixer at low speed for not more than 1 minute. Do not over beat. Quickly, before pudding thickens, pour about 1/2 of the thin pudding evenly over the warm cake and into the holes. (This will make the stripes in the cake.) Allow the remaining pudding to thicken slightly then spoon over the top, and spread to frost the top of the cake. Chill for at least 1 hour before serving. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.
Variations: a boxed butter cake mix and banana pudding for filling the holes and a chocolate pudding for the "frosting." Very much like banana Boston Cream pie. Yellow cake or white cake with butterscotch, pistachio, banana, coconut or vanilla pudding. Chocolate cake with chocolate, vanilla, or coconut pudding.
CROCK POT MACARONI & CHEESE
Ingredients:
1 16 ounce box Barilla Elbow macaroni (cooked til al dente)
1/2 stick of butter
16 ounces of sharp cheddar cheese, grated
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
1 (10 3/4 oz) can condensed Cheddar Cheese soup
1/2 teasp salt (I omit this)
1 cup of whole milk (may sub low fat, but why?)
1/2 teasp dry mustard
1/2 teasp fresh cracked black pepper
Directions: While the macaroni is cooking...In a separate pan, mix butter and cheddar cheese. Heat on low/med until the cheese is melted. In a slow cooker, combine the cheese/butter mixture and add the eggs, sour cream, soup, salt, milk, mustard and pepper and stir well with a whisk. Then add drained macaroni and stir again with large spoon. Set the cooker to low and cook for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.
For those of you missing the crunchy bread crumb topping, you may make that separately and serve on the side, but really, it doesn't need it!
I borrowed this from the food network and tweaked it a bit...Enjoy!
Pudding Poke Cake
Original Recipe Yield 1 - 9x13 inch cake
Ingredients
* 1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
* 2 (3.9 ounce) packages instant chocolate pudding mix
* 1 cup confectioners' sugar
* 4 cups milk
Directions
1. Prepare and bake cake mix according to package directions for one 9x13 inch cake. Remove cake from oven. Poke holes at once down through cake to pan with the round handle of a wooden spoon. Holes should be at 1 inch intervals.
2. Combine the pudding mix with the confectioners' sugar and gradually stir in the milk. Beat with an electric mixer at low speed for not more than 1 minute. Do not over beat. Quickly, before pudding thickens, pour about 1/2 of the thin pudding evenly over the warm cake and into the holes. (This will make the stripes in the cake.) Allow the remaining pudding to thicken slightly then spoon over the top, and spread to frost the top of the cake. Chill for at least 1 hour before serving. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.
Variations: a boxed butter cake mix and banana pudding for filling the holes and a chocolate pudding for the "frosting." Very much like banana Boston Cream pie. Yellow cake or white cake with butterscotch, pistachio, banana, coconut or vanilla pudding. Chocolate cake with chocolate, vanilla, or coconut pudding.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Switching things up a bit
So I've decided to get back into blogging and adding my coupons tips, meal planning, recipes and other things as well. I am hoping it will help others and help me stay on track as far as meal planning and grocery budget.
Last week I bought a pork shoulder and on Monday made Cynthia's Spicy Shredded Pork. We all loved it. The girls ate two tacos each! M even asked for it again the next day so I obliged. We still had plenty of shredded pork left so T and I had to figure out what to cook with it. I thought of making brunswick stew. I found this "Get A Husband Brunswick Stew" and decided to make it on Wednesday. It came out yummy and reminded of being in a bbq restaurant in GA. I loved that it made enough for T and I to have for lunch Thursday and Friday.
I also bought a roaster chicken (b/c they were on sale for $0.99 a lb, we can get multiple meals we love chicken). Thursday I made Roast Sticky Chicken-Rotisserie Style. The directions say to cook it at 250 degrees for 5 hours but that doesn't work for me. I leave it at 250 for 2 hours then cover the chicken with aluminum foil, turn the temp up to 350 and the chicken is done in about an hour. We are eating at a friends house tonight so I don't have to cook. Yay! Tomorrow I will chop up some of the leftover chicken and either make Joanna's Chicken Tortilla Soup For the Crock-Pot or Chicken Enchiladas V. I know we will still have some chicken leftover so on Sunday T will boil chicken and make his homemade chicken soup. This one $7.77 chicken will feed us for about 4 days doing it this way. Not bad!
Last week I bought a pork shoulder and on Monday made Cynthia's Spicy Shredded Pork. We all loved it. The girls ate two tacos each! M even asked for it again the next day so I obliged. We still had plenty of shredded pork left so T and I had to figure out what to cook with it. I thought of making brunswick stew. I found this "Get A Husband Brunswick Stew" and decided to make it on Wednesday. It came out yummy and reminded of being in a bbq restaurant in GA. I loved that it made enough for T and I to have for lunch Thursday and Friday.
I also bought a roaster chicken (b/c they were on sale for $0.99 a lb, we can get multiple meals we love chicken). Thursday I made Roast Sticky Chicken-Rotisserie Style. The directions say to cook it at 250 degrees for 5 hours but that doesn't work for me. I leave it at 250 for 2 hours then cover the chicken with aluminum foil, turn the temp up to 350 and the chicken is done in about an hour. We are eating at a friends house tonight so I don't have to cook. Yay! Tomorrow I will chop up some of the leftover chicken and either make Joanna's Chicken Tortilla Soup For the Crock-Pot or Chicken Enchiladas V. I know we will still have some chicken leftover so on Sunday T will boil chicken and make his homemade chicken soup. This one $7.77 chicken will feed us for about 4 days doing it this way. Not bad!
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