1. Chicken soup. Regular or creamy? I prefer regular, but I have had some creamy chicken soups that were very tasty.

2. Do you have a stew recipe? Yes!

3. What’s your favorite hot comfort food? Funny you should ask! My favorite comfort food is beef stew and I especially love it when my mom makes it!

4. Do you like chicken fried steak? Well, I live in Texas, need I say more? Isn’t chicken fried steak the official food of Texas?

Now, for my stew recipe:
1 lb of lean beef stew meat
4-6 medium potatoes peeled and cut into large cubes
1 onion, cut into pieces
3-4 carrots peeled and cut into pieces
1 can green beans (can also use frozen or fresh)
salt & pepper to taste
flour
2 c beef broth

Place 1/2-1 c. flour in a ziploc bag with salt and pepper. Add stew meat and shake to coat the meat. You can also had a shake or two of seasoned salt if you like.
Brown meet in olive oil in dutch oven. Add all other ingredients and stir. If necessary, add additional water and/or beef broth so that all vegetables are covered by liquid. Simmer for 1 1/2 -2 hours. Serve over cooked rice.

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My work hours were cut today so I made good use of my time off and headed out to run a few errands. I don’t know about you, but I hate running errands and I detest grocery shopping. I feel like it’s such a waste of time and it takes me so long because I am a price shopper. I stand in the aisle comparing ingredients, sizes, coupons and, most importantly, prices. In these times of household budget cuts, price comparison are so important to me.

In the end, I did get my shopping done this morning, even managed to pick up a couple of Christmas presents. After getting home and putting my purchases away, I sat down for some personal time on my computer and I discovered Alice.com, a super convenient way to get my weekly and monthly household shopping done while saving me money.

I signed up for a free account at Alice.com today and started putting items I normally purchase at the store into my online cart. The coolest thing is that I don’t have to print/clip coupons because Alice.com has that all taken care of and applies coupons to my purchase for me. AND, they ship my order to me free (as long as I order a minimum of 6 items). They will even keep track of what I purchase and remind me to reorder so I don’t run out of things in my pantry, whether it’s coffee or toilet paper. Plus, their prices are better than what I just found at the discount store today. I compared prices at Alice.com to my receipt for what I purchased today and I could have saved even more than I did by purchasing online because they would have given me coupons that I didn’t have with me today.

I have such a difficult time staying on a budget and this is a great way for me to be more successful because I can track my purchases.  This is the perfect way for us to manage our household purchases because they carry everything I need outside of fresh food.  I can save money purchasing everything from granola bars, to shower cleaner and they carry name brand products, the ones I usually buy.  I even found a few items that I ordered today because I didn’t care for the prices at the store, even though I needed the products.  Now I’ve ordered them from Alice.com, saved money, time and gasoline.

I highly suggest you check this site out for yourself. Click here to sign up and start saving and you’ll receive $10 off once you’ve spent $50. Plus, for anyone you refer, you’ll receive 3% of their purchases back for one year.

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There are 14 shops involved in this open house (mine is not one of them because I haven’t had time to update my shop!), my sister’s included. Each shop has unique, hand crafted items and each shop is sponsoring some sort of giveaway, so check each one out and I’m sure you’ll find something (or two or three) that you just must have for yourself or need to give as a gift this holiday season.

Please also be sure to visit my sister’s shop, Keated by Karen and you may even find a couple of my own hand crafted bags there!

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Of course, the nice weather ended and today is super windy and cold, so I now have time to sit indoors and plan my strategy for my yard. I’m not very good at yard work and planting, I definitely can use help, but it can be very expensive hiring people to do landscape work. I’m really thinking of starting with a smaller project in one corner of our yard where I believe a small tree has died. Weekend Project is a software program that can help me plot and plan exactly what I want to do with PlantFinder™ which suggests plants automatically based on where I live. It focuses on smaller household projects that can be completed in a weekend rather than something as big as a whole house remodel.

The Weekend Projectsoftware features tips from TV personality and interior designer Kristan Cunningham from HGTV and The Rachel Ray show as well as more in-depth how to information from other home professionals. What I find really cool is that, while planning bushes, trees and plants, I can include a picture of my home in my design plan to see how the end result will actually look! That can save me from making an expensive landscaping mistake!

Check out this video for more information.

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Without further ado, here are this weeks questions and my answers:

1. How do you make mashed potatoes? I peel and cut up potatoes and boil them until they are soft. I add milk, butter and salt and beat with my mixer until all the lumps are gone and they are creamy in texture.

2. What do you wash pots and pans with? Some pots I put in the dishwasher, others I was in hot water with Palmolive dish soap and a soft dishrag.

3. Name something red in your refrigerator right now. Strawberry jam.

4. Do you prefer to use boullion cubes or the boullion powder mix? I prefer powder, I can never seem to get the cubes to dissolve all the way!

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Lately, I’ve just been making sandwiches or buying sandwiches on the way. Of course, if we buy sandwiches, that means money from our dining out budget and I’d rather be spending that money on some other dining experience, but sandwiches are easy to eat in the car!

So, I was in Kroger the other day buying sandwich stuff and I noticed a new product in the refrigerated lunch meat section of the store that I’d never seen before, Fix Quix from Buddig and they come in 3 flavors, Grilled Chicken, Oven-Roasted Turkey, and Smoked Ham. These are ready to eat right out of the package or they can be added to my own recipes (or yours!).

I have to tell you too, I’ve been diagnosed with high cholesterol, so I always have to watch pre-packaged food items because they tend to be high in trans-fats, sodium and calories. Fix Quix is low in calories and low in fat with ZERO trans fat!  I can add them to some whole wheat pasta for a quick take-along pasta salad,  make a quick wrap sandwich or put them over some greens for a healthy salad.  Any of these ideas can be eaten on the go so we can all have a nutritious meal that has the protein my daughter needs (and none of the fats that I don’t) before practice.

I know I have readers from all over the U.S. and internationally, so I hate to say this, but right now, if you’re wondering where to buy, this product is only available in Arizona, Missouri (St. Louis) and Texas. I do hope it becomes more widely available because I know many families have time crunches similar to mine and can use this product!

Click here for your $1.00 off coupon and get a second coupon directly on the package when you make your purchase.

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We eat a lot of rice in our household and I love the smell and flavor of Basmati rice. I purchase the Texmati brand of rice regularly and I have to say how surprised I was after my most recent purchase. Check out the size difference in these two containers!

That’s right, the volume has been downsized but the price stayed the same! One more product taking advantage of the consumer, thinking no one would notice. Come on Texmati, we’re not stupid!

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Seriously, depending on where in the world you’d like to go, there are fares from as low as $229 each way from New York to London and back. Add a hotel to the mix and you can get a package rate for as little as $659! British Airways has flights from Atlanta, Boston, Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa and Washington D.C. They fly internationally to cities around the world including London, Cairo, Dubai, Hong Kong, Madrid, Mulan and Nairobi to name just a few.

It’s been many years since I’ve flown to an international destination, but British Airways was always one of my favorite airlines to fly. They have impeccable service, comfortable flights (ergonomic seats even!) and they even include meals in the price of a ticket. They also don’t charge extra for a blanket or pillow and they do their very best to make their customers comfortable throughout their flight.

I would love to take my daughter to Kenya.  I’ve shown her photos from my trip there when I was her age. I went with my parents on a photographic safari and it is by far, one of my favorite trips of all time. I would love to give her the same experience.

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?

To take advantage of this “world sale”, just book your tickets by November 19,2009 and travel November 17, 2009 – March 28, 2010 (excluding December 21-23 2009) and March 29 – May 23, 2010, except for travel to India where the travel periods are November 17 – December 10, 2009 and December 25, 2009 – May 23, 2010.

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This is one of my favorite purses. I made this with 100% cotton and it has a spring hinge closure. There are roomy pockets inside for organization! The straps are long enough to carry over the shoulder or comfortably in the hand and are reinforced for strength.

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We’re in for a busy weekend starting tomorrow morning with regional band auditions for my daughter and then we head off to a softball tournament that will take up the remainder of Saturday and most of Sunday.
I will do my best to visit all of my blogging friends over the weekend, but if I don’t get to your site, please forgive me! I’ll be outside enjoying the beautiful weather that we are FINALLY experiencing here in Dallas!

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