Strait from the Heart

HAPPY NATIONAL COUPON MONTH!!!

2009-09-09T15:12:00.002-05:00

Greetings!! It has been a long time since I have sent any updates or shared any ideas here! I really haven't done much coupon shopping in the past several months! I have needed to focus on other things and also needed to use up some of the goodies in my stockpile before they were past date! Well, my shelves and freezer are starting to look a bit bare so it is time to get started again! I have been motivated recently by a couple of great shopping trips! Just last night I did some coupon shopping and bought:
9 tubs of Country Crock margerine
4 bags of Sun Chips
2 bags of Lays chips
3 rolls of Bounty
3 pkgs of Charmin Ultra Soft TP (4 large rolls)
4 pkgs of floss
5 Brut deodorant
2 loaves of bread
1 Suave bodywash
2 loaves of bread
1 Dillon's ranch dressing

all for a total of $22.57; a savings of 75%!! WOOHOO!!!

I will be watching for more deals; seeing that 75% in savings was really motiviating!!!

Dinners w/cost 3/23-25

2009-03-25T19:36:00.004-05:00

Good evening! Here's an update on what we have eaten and the cost for the last couple of days:

Monday, 3/23: pork roast, mashed potatoes w/gravy, corn and rolls
pork roast: $1.5 lobs @ $2/lb/ = $3.00
mashed potatoes (steam-n-mash): $1.00
corn (steamers) $0.00
rice $0.65
rolls $0.70
TOTAL: 5.35

Tuesday: potluck of leftovers
TOTAL: $0.00

Wednesday: chicken breasts, roasted new potatoes w/green beans in rosemary butter, corn, and rice w/gravy
chicken breasts: 3 lbs. at $1/lb. = $3.00
Italian dressing as marinade: $0.00
roasted new potatoes w/green beans in rosemary butter (steamers): $0.00
corn (steamers): $0.00
rice and gravy (both leftover from Monday): $0.00
TOTAL: $3.00
(This is why I love using coupons - FREE dressing and 2 veggie side dishes! WOOHOO!!)
Plus, these 3 chicken breasts were HUGE, so we only ate 2; therefore, the 3rd will be dinner tomorrow night!!!

Total spend on dinner so far this week:
Monday: $5.35
Tuesday: $0.00
Wednesday: $3.00
Total: $8.35

Thanks for joining me on this journey so far! It really has been interesting for me to see what we really spend to eat!

Dinners w/cost for 3/20-22

2009-03-23T19:22:00.001-05:00

Friday, 3/20 - taquitos, mexican rice and refried beans
Taquitos (yes, the infamous taquitos): 12 @ $.15 each = $1.80
refried beans: $0.70
mexican rice: $0.65
salsa (to make the rice): $0.50
cheese: $0.25
sour cream: $0.00 (I love it when I get free stuff)
TOTAL: $3.90
(a couple of kiddos ate cereal, but I didn't figure the cost since I know it is minimal)

Saturday - pizza from Papa John's
Okay, we caved in but only because we could get cheap pizza from Papa John's due to the $6 pizzas as part of their Customer Appreciation Day. So, we ordered 2 large pizzas and an order of cheese sticks for $18.04 (MUCH better than the $38 we spent on pizza last week).

Sunday: leftover pizza and cheese sticks
Cost tonight is $0.00 since the total cost was in for last night's dinner! I won't complain too much about $18 for dinner for 2 nights, especiallly when I didn't have to cook! Yippee!!

My total cost for dinners this week was:
Monday: $8.49
Tuesday: $8.40
Wednesday: $5.77
Thursday: $1.50
Friday: $3.90
Saturday: $18.04 (ate out)
Sunday: $0.00
TOTAL: $46.10
($28.06 at home and $18.04 eatting out)
Total to date: $24.16

Coupon Class on 4/18, 9a-11a

2009-03-19T11:52:00.006-05:00

I am teaching another coupon class on Saturday, April 18th from 9a-12p. The class is FREE but you do need to sign-up ahead of time so that we can be sure to have enough handouts for all attendees. If you are interested, I would love to have you join us!! Feel free to pass this on to others who want to learn how to save on their groceries!

S-T-R-E-T-C-H Your Grocery Dollars!!
Come to Grocery Savings 101 to learn how to save on your groceries
and even be able to donate more items to charity as well.

Class will be held on Saturday, April 18th from 9a-12p.
Class: 9a-11a
Q&A and coupon swap: 11a-12p

(bring your extra coupons - whether a few or a lot

to swap with others for coupons you can use!)

Cedar Pointe Baptist Church
9221 E. 31st Street South, Wichita
(between Rock and Webb, near McConnell AFB)

See map here

To RSVP as well as ask questions:
contact Amy Strait at amyscoupons@cox.net

Many Blessings and Happy Savings,
Amy

Dinner menus and costs - 3/17-3/19

2009-03-19T09:45:00.005-05:00

Here's an update on what we have been eating for dinner this week so far.

Tuesday: Burgers and hot dogs on the grill
Wednesday: meatloaf and garlic mashed potatoes
Thursday: leftover spaghetti pie

Here's our cost breakdown:

Burgers and hot dogs on grill:
burger patties: 5 patties - 1 1/4 lbs. = $2.50
buns: $0.50 (used half of a package)
cheese slices: 5 ($2/24 slices = $.08 ea.) = $0.40
hotdogs: 8 ($7/28 = $.25 ea.) = $2.00

Macaroni-tuna salad
pasta: $0.50
tuna: $0.75 (probably too high, but it is a guess)
onion and celery: $.20 (too small of a quanitity to really calculate, so I'll guess)
ranch dressing: $0.10 (used approx. a 1/4 cup)
mayo: $0.20 (again, guessing)

chips (1/2 bag): $1.00
chip dip: $0.25
TOTAL COST: $8.40

Meatloaf and garlic mashed potatoes:
ground beef (1 1/2 lbs.) = $3.00
crackers: $0.12
onion, milk, egg, ketchup: $0.50 (guessing as amounts are too small to calculate)

Garlic mashed potatoes (Steam-n-Mash): $1.00
mixed veggies: $0.00 (free after coupons - yes, I do have a large stash of these!!)
rice: $0.65 (with leftovers for breakfast on Thursday or Friday)
Grands biscuits: $0.50
TOTAL COST: $5.77

Leftover spaghetti pie from Monday night: $0.00
(the full price of the meal was calculate on Monday, so this is just using up what we fixed that night)
canned fruit and jello: $1.50
TOTAL COST: $1.50

My total cost for dinners this week so far is:
Monday: $8.49
Tuesday: $8.40
Wednesday: $5.77
Thursday: $1.50
Total to date: $24.16

Hope your week is going well!!

Dinner (and cost) - 3/16/09

2009-03-16T16:13:00.004-05:00

Hello!! Well, dinner at our house tonight is all about using up some of the odds and ends in the fridge. Since my "extras" include spaghetti sauce, cottage cheese, and salad fixin's, tonight's dinner will be: spaghetti pie, garlic bread and salad.
(Recipe for spaghetti pie at: http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Spaghetti-Pie-4; I used jarred spaghetti sauce instead of making as they suggested, I also used regular cottage cheese and mozzerella cheese instead of the low-fat versions as that is what I had on hand)

Meal cost:
Speghetti pie:
spaghetti: $1.00
ground beef: $1.00
spaghetti sauce: $1.00
cottage cheese: $0.50
sour cream: $0.00 (free due to coupon; used this as I didn't have enough cottage cheese)
shredded cheese: $1.00
eggs: $0.25

garlic bread:
hot dog buns: $0.50 (manager special; makes great and cheap garlic bread under the broiler)
cheese: $0.50
margerine and garlic powder: $0.20

Salad:
romaine and iceburg lettuce: $1.25
cheese: $0.50
croutons: $0.30
dressing: $0.50

TOTAL COST: $8.49

We usually don't eat this much salad, but I thought I was getting a deal on the romaine lettuce at Target only to realize after the fact that I forgot to use my coupon - oops!!! Now that I have it I refuse to let it go to waste!!!

UPDATE: Dinner was AWESOME!!! Cool thing was that there is enough leftover for lunch on Wednesday! So, while the cost of dinner tonight was high, it will also serve as a whole other meal!!! WOOHOO!!!

Meal costs - week of 3/9-3/15

2009-03-16T11:02:00.011-05:00

Here is my first post on meal costs for the week of 3/9-3/15. I am only showing dinner for thsi week. I may do lunch costs in the future but just didn't keep a record for last week. I will not be posting breakfast costs as we usually eat breakfast pretty inexpensively; either cereal (bought on sale with cuopons), toast, rice, or oatmeal.

Here are our meals:
Monday, 3/9: burgers and dogs on grill
Tuesday, 3/10: Macaroni and cheese, smoked sausage, mixed veggies
Wednesday, 3/11: ham, popcorn shrimp, baked potatoes, broccoli w/cheese sauce
Thursday, 3/12: pasta and spaghetti sauce
Friday, 3/13: pizza from Pizza Hut
Saturday, 3/14: cube steaks w/gravy, mashed potatoes, corn, homemade yeast rolls
Sunday, 3/15: taco salad (for the grown-ups) and ravioli with speghetti sauce

Cost breakdown:

Burgers and hot dogs on grill:
burger patties: 6 patties - 1 1/2 lbs. = $3.00
buns: $1
cheese slices: 6 ($2/24 slices = $.08 ea.) = $0.48
hotdogs: 4 ($7/28 = $.25 ea.) = $1.00
tatertots (1/2 bag at $2/bag) = $1
carrot stix (1/2 bag at $1.50/bag) = $0.75
pears (1 can) = $1
TOTAL COST: $8.25

Macaroni and cheese, smoked sausage, mixed veggies:
Kraft mac-n-cheese deluxe $1.50 (estimate as I can't remember exact cost)
Kraft mac-n-cheese (powdered cheese w/margerine & milk): $0.60
smoked sausage (from Schwan's): $5.00
mixed veggies: $0.00 (thanks to coupon)
TOTAL COST: $7.10

ham, popcorn shrimp, baked potatoes, broccoli w/cheese sauce
ham $3 (approx.; small piece left from Christmas)
popcorn shrimp $4
potatoes (approx. 1 1/4 lbs.): $0.40
shredded cheese: $1.00
sour cream: $0.00 (thanks to coupon)
broccoli w/cheese sauce: $0.00 (thanks to coupon)
rice (for picky eater): $0.65
TOTAL COST: $9.05

pasta and spaghetti sauce:
box of pasta: $0.75
sauce: $0.75
parm cheese: $0.25
TOTAL COST: $1.75

pizza from Pizza Hut: $38 (enough for dinner and lunch the next day)

cube steaks w/gravy, mashed potatoes, corn, homemade yeast rolls
cube steaks: $4.00
mashed potatoes (Steam-n-mash) $1.00
gravy (2 jars): $1.30 (estimate)
corn: $0.00 (thanks to coupon)
rice: $0.65 (leftovers for breakfast next day)
flour: $0.25
shortening: $0.12
yeast: $0.00 (free plus overage thanks to coupon)
TOTAL COST: $7.30

taco salad (for the grown-ups) and ravioli with speghetti sauce (for kids)
Romaine lettuce: $1.00 (forgot to use coupon at Target - rats)
iceburg lettuce: $0.25
ground beef: $2.00
taco seasoning: $.35
sour cream: $0.00 (gotta love coupons)
picante sauce: $.50
fritos: $0.00 (again, gotta love coupons)
ravioli: $2.50
spaghetti sauce: $0.75
TOTAL COST: $7.35

Total eating at home:
Monday: $8.25
Tuesday: $7.10
Wednesday: $9.05
Thursday: $1.75
Friday: $0.00
Saturday: $7.30
Sunday: $7.35
TOTAl: $40.80

Total eating out:
Monday: $0.00
Tuesday: $0.00
Wednesday: $0.00
Thursday: $0.00
Friday: $0.00
Saturday: $38.00
Sunday: $0.00
TOTAL: $38.00

Well, $40.80 for 6 meals isn't too bad, but it was a bit high compared to our usual meal costs. Twice this week we had items from Schwan's (popcorn shrimp because we like it best and smoked sausage because I wanted to try it) and that really drives up the cost of a meal. It is pretty sad though that we ate 6 meals for approx. the same cost as Pizza Hut. Oh my!!!

I still need to figure out our meals for this week, but that will have to wait for later... The kiddos have been patient with me typing for this long but I can tell that their patience is wearing quite thin!!!

Blessings!

Cost of meals challenge

2009-03-16T10:56:00.002-05:00

Hello friends! As some of you know I have been seriously couponing for just over a year and have built quite a stockpile (freezer and pantry). My struggle comes with planning meals. I have thought on this and prayed about it and the only thing I can come up with is that I get sick of the "same old meals" (and I have a family that prefers those "same old meals", so just making something new isn't always an option). It is this attitude (tossed in with some laziness at times) that has led us to eatting out more than we really should. I have even prayed that God would take away my desire for such junk but I still struggle. I have come to the conclusion that God has not taken away that desire because He wants me to have the self control to stay away from it. SIGH.... it would be so much easier if He would take care of it supernaturally! LOL!

Well, one thing I do on a regular basis is to roughly figure out the cost of our meals. (You can read a blog post where I detail a couple recent meal costs at: http://manystraits.blogspot.com/2009/02/frugal-dinners.html.) As I have been looking at the cost of our meals (usually between $5-$8 to feed my family of 7 - 2 adults and 5 kids ages 7 and under), I feel the Spirit telling me that my low meal costs (due to coupon shopping) should be my motivation to eat at home and be a better steward of our finances. Calculating that we all eat a good, wel-balanced meal with little giong to waste for $7 compared to grabbing junk from a local drive-through for $27 where too much gets thrown away really helps to keep things in perspective.

So, in light of that, I have decided that I am going to try to post my meals and meal costs daily (or at least several times a week). If you would like to follow me in this quest, I would love your encouragement and accountability. You can even join me in this quest by posting comments to share your meal costs or struggles with meal planning, etc.

Many Blessings and Happy Savings,
Amy

$5 Dinners Bargain Meal of the Week

2009-03-03T08:57:00.000-06:00

You may have heard of the blog $5 Dinners (http://www.5dollardinners.com/) where they feature meals that cost less than $5 to make. Well, they have added another element to their blog by enlisting bloggers from around the country to come up with meals (with recipes) for $5 or less using the items that are on sale at grocery stores that week. Visit this site (http://www.5dollardinners.com/2007/07/bargain-meal-of-week.html) and scan down to the blog listing for your store(s) of choice.

This is a really awesome idea and may give some new ideas on how to make economical/frugal meals with what is currently on sale!!

Many Blessings and Happy Savings,Amy

Frugal dinners!!!

2009-02-25T18:44:00.006-06:00

I just had to share with you a few of our frugal meals lately!! I am working very hard to prepare meals from what is in our pantry rather than spend more money at the grocery store when we already have more than plenty! So, here is what we have been eating:

Last Wednesday:
pork chops - 1.5 lbs. $3.50
New potatoes and green beans
in a rosemary butter sauce
(Green Giant Steamers) $0.00
Rice and gravy (for picky kiddo) $0.50
TOTAL $4.00
(I had a coupon for the pork chops as well as for the Steamers which made them FREE!!!)
(ALSO, I made dinner by browning the pork chops and then adding the contents of the Steamers bag to the top of the pork chops. As the butter chunks melted they cooked with the pork chops; it was super yummy!! I will definitely do that again!!)

Last Thursday:
chicken thighs in the crockpot w/seasoning - 2.5 lbs. $2.50
Cheesy broccoli rice (Green Giant Steamers) - 2 bags $0.00
corn (Green Giant Steamers) $0.00
Rice and gravy (for picky kiddo) $0.50
Stuffing mix $0.70
TOTAL $3.70
(I had coupons for the Steamers which made them FREE, and I bought the stuffing mixes when they were on sale at Thanksgiving and used a coupon. I may have also had a coupon for the chicken which would have made this meal even more frugal but I cannot say for sure, so I will go with what I know the price was on the package.)

Tonight:
Baked chicken alfredo
chicken - approx. 1 lb. $2.00
penne - 1/2 lb. $0.50
alfredo sauce $0.00
mozzerella cheese $0.50
Broccoli w/cheese (Green Giant Steamers) $0.00
Garlic cheese bread
hot dog buns $0.50
4-cheese blend $0.50
TOTAL $4.00
(I purchased the chicken through Angel Food Ministries a while back and needed to use it up before it got freezer burned. I had a catalina coupon for the alfredo sauce which made it FREE, and I used coupons on the pasta, cheese, buns and broccoli.)

Monday night we had a beef roast with mashed potatoes and gravy, buttermilk biscuits, corn, and rice. I am not sure what I paid for the roast or the potatoes so I cannot price this meal out, but it does split into 2 meals as I will use my leftovers for a shepherd's pie to put in the freezer for dinner another night.

I have been teased by many for hoarding Steamers coupons, but through them I was able to purchase LOTS of FREE veggies!!!

Blessings!

Menu Plan Monday - wk of 1/19/09

2009-01-19T15:27:00.012-06:00

Dinner week of 1/19/09:
Mon: creamy italian chicken w/egg noodles and foccicia bread
Tues: pork chops w/scalloped potatoes
Wed: meat loaf w/garlic mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and french bread
Thurs: stuffed chicken breasts w/augratin potatoes and mixed veggies
Fri: (not sure yet; something kid friendly as dad will be at the fire station)
Sat: cream cheese chicken enchiladas w/mexican rice
Sun: (not sure yet; has to be an easy meal after evening choir practice)

Links:
* Mon: http://www.recipezaar.com/Crock-Pot-Creamy-Italian-Chicken-19859 (I marinate my chicken in italian dressing overnight before making this as it really enhances the flavor; I also omit the mushrooms just because I rarely have them in the house.)
* Tues: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Scalloped-Potatoes-and-Pork-Chops
* Wed: no real recipe; garlic mashed potatoes are the Ore-Ida ones from the bag, regular green bean casserole, and Pillsbury french bread from the refrig. section of grocery store (all of these items were purchased with coupons while on sale, so the cost is minimal)
* Thursday: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Stuffed-Chicken-with-Scalloped-Potatoes/Detail.aspx (I substituted au gratin potatoes for the scalloped potatoes)
* Friday: dunno yet - LOL~
* Saturday: http://www.box.net/shared/9k863668fs
* Sunday: again, dunno yet~

Great thing is that all the ingredients for these meals are in our kitchen already so I don't have to do any additional grocery shopping - WOOHOO!!!

There are LOTS of other weekly menus posted to inspire you at http://orgjunkie.com/

I hope that you, too, are inspired to plan your meals for the week.
Many blessings and happy "eats"!!

All You Magazine Subscription for $18 - WOW!!!

2008-12-18T23:41:00.003-06:00

If you read my earlier blog posts with my coupon tips then you know that the All You magazine - a Wal-Mart only magazine - is a GREAT source for coupons!! I have had a subscription for several months and LOVE IT!!

Here's your chance to grab up an AMAZING DEAL!!! Go here to get your 2 year subscription to All You Magazine for just $18!! This is a great deal!!! The magazine sells for $2.17 at Wal-Mart, that is a savings of $34.08. Each month of All You contains coupons (usually well over $20 worth in each issue) as well as great articles!! You will NOT be disappointed!!!

To Wii or Not to Wii - that is the question...

2008-12-14T22:00:00.008-06:00

Sigh... hubby and I had decided that we were going to buy a Wii for our family for Christmas. We figured that it would be a great way to keep the kids physically active while having fun when it was just too cold, wet, snowy, and/or muddy, etc. this winter and beyond. Now I will start by saying that we did know what the cost of a Wii was as we made this decision, but what I hadn't given a huge amount of thought to was what the "rest of the story" was in terms of needing more controllers for multiple players and the cost of additional games. The other thing that I wasn't prepared for was how painfully difficult these boogers are to find to actually buy; we were afraid that we wouldn't find one to buy before Christmas (from a source that we were familiar with, such as Wal-Mart, Sam's, Toys-R-Us, Circuit City, Best Buy, etc.).

Then, finally, just this morning we found a Wii system on the Toys-R-Us site - can you say WOOHOO!!! I placed our order and we were all set, or so I thought! A short time later, I got what I call "that itchy feeling" - the feeling I get when something just isn't right. I couldn't dismiss it so I stopped to pray that God would guide Eric and I on whether purchasing the Wii was a good decision or not. When I shared my "itchy feeling" with my hubby, he agreed that if it didn't feel right then we needed to cancel the order; so cancel the order I did and now the "itchy feeling" is gone! WHEW!!!

BUT.... now my question is... what decision process have others had on the road of "To Wii or Not to Wii"? Why did you chose to or not to purchase it???

We had a hard time justifying the cost of the console, additional accessories, and on-going cost of games. My cost estimate was near $478.00 for the items that we felt we would need to get started, not to mention the cost of additional games or other accessories that we don't yet know that we "need". Plus, the questions we asked ourselves were these... do we want to encourage our children to play video games rather than seek out other sources of play that would be equally physical and even more imaginative??? Do we want them to think that all entertainment must come from either the computer or the television??

As a slight bunny trail, but still on the same thought... We are considering cancelling our cable TV in January for a couple of reasons (we would cancel it now, but, even though this was my idea, I am having a hard time committing to giving up some of the shows that I watch on cable). First, we pay approx. $80 per month for digital cable and some additional digital tiers. We think we can be better stewards of that $80 by using it to either build our savings or to pay down student loan debt rather than use it for pure entertainment. Second, because there is just too much on TV that we do not agree with; such things as the attitudes of some characters on some of the pre-teen/teen shows our oldest daughter suddenly wants to watch, violence (even the evening news is hard to watch with kids), not to mention the encouragement to "get more stuff" from watching all the toy and fast food commercials (especially this time of year) that we are always bombarded with. We have considered just blocking the channels that have what we consider to be questionable content, but that won't eliminate all of what bothers us.

All that being said, I still would like a Wii because I think it would be a lot of fun... but we just cannot justify the cost for our family. Please know that I am not judging other families that do have Wiis and/or cable TV, it is a personal choice that each family must make for themselves. All I am doing is sharing what thought process we have worked through (and we are obviously still working through them ourselves) and now I would LOVE to hear from each of you on your family's decision "To Wii or Not to Wii"; I look forward to hearing from you.

Menu Plan Monday - wk of 12/8

2008-12-08T10:01:00.009-06:00

Okay... here I go... I am committed to having my weekly menu planned each weekend so that I can post it here to participate in Menu Plan Monday at http://orgjunkie.com/ (there are LOTS of other weekly menus posted there to inspire you) and as accountability.

My goal this week is to use up some chicken in the freezer and to use what we have here at home instead of buying things from the grocery store; I did a lot of stockpiling of several sale items before Thanksgiving so I need to cut my grocery spending back this month. Here's what I have planned for this week (if you want me to post recipes, leave me a comment and I will start adding recipes):

Breakfast:
Mon: waffles
Tues: oatmeal
Wed: cinnamon rolls
Thurs: muffins or quick bread
Fri: cereal
Sat: eggs and sausage
Sun: french toast casserole

Lunch:
Mon: chicken and rice (cubed chicken breast cooked with a lipton rice pouch)
Tues: pigs in a blanket (hot dogs rolled in crescent rolls) with macaroni and cheese
Wed: grilled cheese and chicken noodle soup
Thurs: leftover ziti (from Wednesday dinner)
Fri: fish tenders and noodles (a lipton noodle pouch)
Sat: manwich and tatertots
Sun: pork chops and gravy in the crockpot

Dinner:
Mon: shredded pork loin tacos with mexican rice and hamburger helper for kiddos
Tues: chicken and gravy in the crockpot with stuffing
Wed: baked ziti with garlic bread
Thurs: meatloaf, garlic mashed potatoes and green bean casserole
Fri: our church is having a Parents' Night Out, so we will do something easy for the kids and Eric and I (and Elijah) will go out for dinner - yippee!!!
Sat: chicken alfredo (I am not fully committed to this yet, so this could change)
Sun: chicken sandwiches

I hope that you, too, are inspired to plan your meals for the week.

Many blessings and happy "eats"!!

Frugal haircuts - saved $80!!

2008-12-06T16:46:00.001-06:00

My latest frugal conquest... reasonably priced haircuts. Several months ago I posted on a local homeschool Yahoo! group to ask for places to take my kids for reasonably priced haircuts (the last place I took them cost me nearly $80 with tip). Several group members suggested that I get a good, sharp pair of scissors and do it myself.

Well, it has taken a couple of months to work up the courage but I finally did it! My 4 oldest were in desperate need of cuts (the baby doesn’t have any hair, so he was safe… this time), so I got out my scissors that are dedicated haircutting scissors (previously for bangs only). I cut Sarah’s (age 3 ½) and Matthew’s (age 2) hair on Saturday night and both turned out pretty well; actually, Sarah ended up with a chin-length bob that is adorable and Matthew had his mullet-wanna-be hair trimmed back a nice non-redneck length – LOL!! Then on Monday, Hannah (age 7) and Rachel (age 5 ½) decided that they wanted haircuts too! While I felt less confident with their cuts, they actually turned out looking quite nice!! My aunt liked the cuts and then was quite impressed when I told her that I cut it myself!! I am so thankful to all who encouraged me to “just do it” myself - thanks HANCK members! I plan to hit Sally Beauty Supply soon for a cape, real haircut scissors and maybe a razor/trimmer for the boys’ hair!

Here are some of our before and after pics:

Sarah before Sarah after

my boys...

Elijah - safe from the scissors... this time

Matthew - now free from his mullet-in-the-making (sorry no before pics)

(aren't these boys just too cute together!!!)

Rachel - before Rachel - after

Hannah - before Hannah - after (what an improvement!)

Thanksgiving Leftovers all used up!!

2008-12-05T18:07:00.006-06:00

This post is a couple days late, but I still wanted to report in that I have successfully used up ALL of my Thanksgiving leftovers!! I am really striving to be a good steward of what we have and that especially means leftovers (which often tend to get lost in the fridge and turn into an unplanned science experiment - LOL!). We ate some of the leftovers just warmed up - but that usually happens the first day or so... it's the rest that I needed to be creative with. Well, on 12/1 I posted how we made turkey and noodles with some of what we had remaining from dinner.

What we had remaining was some turkey, stuffing, corn, green bean casserole, and mashed potatoes. Here is how we used the rest....

** on 12/2 we had "Gobble Up Good Turkey Casserole" (from www.menus4moms.com) which used up nearly all remaining turkey as well as all of the stuffing. Here's the recipe (I noted my changes in parenthesis after the item):

Gobble Good Turkey Casserole
1 can cream of mushroom soup (used 2 cans as I did not have cream of celery at home)
1 can cream of celery soup (did not use, see above)
1 package onion soup mix (did not have any, but added some onion powder and black pepper)
1 cup rice (long grain, not minute rice)
1 1/2 cups milk
2-3 cups leftover turkey
(I topped mine with the leftover stuffing and hubby LOVED it - I highly recommend this!)

Combine all ingredients in a large casserole dish. Bake covered 30-45 minutes at 350°F or until bubbly. (Mine took a solid hour, add more time if you use brown rice.) I then served it with the remaining green bean casserole and corn.

** on 12/3 I made Mashed Potato soup which I morphed from several recipes I found online. Here's how I made mine:

Amy's Mashed Potato Soup
2 cups of chicken stock (I used 2 chicken bouillon cubes and 2 cups of water)
2 cups leftover mashed potatoes
onion powder to taste
celery salt to taste (next time I will probably finely chop some celery and carrots)
crumbled bacon
shredded cheese

Heat broth then add mashed potatoes. It will be thin at first, so turn down the heat to medium and let it thicken. If it gets too thick or if you want it creamier or richer, you could add some milk or sour cream. Top with some crumbled bacon and shredded cheese.

All that remained was some turkey and some stock; both of these are now in the freezer until I want turkey and noodles again.

So, I successfully managed to use up ALL my leftovers and with minimal additional cost. Here's what I figure:
* the turkey and noodles cost approx. $1.50 ($1.00 for the half bag of noodles and $.50 for carrots and seasonings);
* the turkey casserole cost approx. $2.00 ($.50 for rice, $1 for cream soup, and $.50 for milk and seasonings); and
* the soup cost approx. $1.60 (pennies for the bullion cubes and seasonings, $.50 for cheese, and $1 for bacon).

For neither of these am I adding the cost of the leftovers as they were free in my mind as they would have probably been thrown away in previous years. $5.10 for 3 meals is pretty good in my opinion!!!

Thanks for continuing to join me on my adventure to be a good steward.

10 lbs of ground beef - how I used it...

2008-12-02T21:59:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I mentioned that I had a 10-lb log of ground beef from Sam's that I would be using to make ahead some meals, Here's what we made:

18 - 4 oz. burger patties
2 meatloafs
3 meals worth of salisbury steaks

It was a great cooking day!!

Turkey and noodles - it was like manna from heaven!

2008-12-01T20:21:00.008-06:00

Just had to share... I am working very hard to be a good steward of what we have so I am examining everything to be sure that it is being used to the greatest potential. Well, I will admit that I normally throw away my turkey carcass; I despise cutting/pulling the meat off the bones! I had already cut off the meat I would want for sandwiches but knew a lot of meat was left. I debated cooking the carcass down but really wasn't in the mood for turkey soup. After praying about it, I was blessed with the idea of turkey and noodles. So I cooked the carcass down and was blessed with nearly 3 quarts of wonderful broth and 4 cups of meat. I then used these for a wonderful batch of turkey and noodles - YUMMY!! What a wonderful blessing - just like manna from heaven!! I cannot begin to tell you how much I enjoyed that meal!

For those who might be curious to know how I cooked down my turkey or made the turkey and noodles, here you go:

I cooked down turkey carcass by putting it in my big stockpot and covering it with water. I then added a couple stalks of celery just cut in half, two handfuls of mini carrots, a third of an onion, and then some poultry seasoning and black pepper. After it was at a slow boil, I put the lid on the pan, reduced the heat to medium and let it cook for approx. 2 hours. Once cooled down, I strained the stock from the solids (bones, meat, and veggies). I then put the stock in pitchers in the fridge. Finally, I then pulled the meat from the remaining solids and stored it in the fridge as well; the remaining solids were put in the trash.

For the turkey and noodles (a small batch), I put 5 cups of the yummy turkey broth and approx. 1/2 cup of sliced carrots into a pan and heated it to boiling. I then added half of 12 oz. package of Reames egg noodles (from the freezer section in the grocery store) and 1 cup of chopped turkey and covered it and let it cook until the noodles were done (25-30 minutes). Lastly, I mixed a tablespoon of cornstarch with a 1/4 cup of water, then slowly added that to the pan of broth and noodles just to thicken it up a bit. Then we dished it up and enjoyed our blessing!! YUM!!!

YUMMY Meatballs

2008-12-01T18:21:00.001-06:00

One of the things I like to do as part of my meal planning is to buy ground beef in bulk and make several meals to be stored in the freezer until needed. One of my favorites is meatballs:

Freezer Stash Meatballs
Makes 48 meatballs; 8 servings

3 pounds lean ground beef
1 1/2 cups soft bread crumbs
3 eggs
6 tablespoons minced onion
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. In a large bowl, mix beef, crumbs, eggs, onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Shape into 11/2-inch meatballs. (A miniature ice cream scoop makes fast work of shaping.)
3. Arrange in two 10-by-15-inch jelly roll pans. Bake in preheated oven until meat is browned, with no trace of pink and juices run clear, 10 to 13 minutes.
4. Drain, let cool to room temperature, divide into thirds and freeze each portion in vapor-moisture proof containers.

For ideas on what to use these in, see the whole "plan" at: http://www.menus4moms.com/bulk/beef_plan.php

My 2 favorite ways to use the meatballs is:
* in meatball subs - combine meatballs with some spaghetti sauce and then serve them in buns with mozzerella cheese
* as Swedish meatballs - combine meatballs with a can of cream of mushroom soup and a can (or jar) of brown gravy and heat through; serve over egg noodles

I have a 10-lb. log of ground beef in the fridge, I will try to post tomorrow about how I will use that.

See more great recipes at: http://grocerycartchallenge.blogspot.com

Blessings!!

2 additional sites for printable coupons

2008-12-01T17:48:00.001-06:00

Here are a couple of additional sites with lots of printable coupons that were just too good not to pass on:

http://www.couponcat.net/ccgrocery.html

http://www.couponsinc.com/corp/source/cp_clientlist.asp

Happy savings!

Gotta be a genius to read this blog...

2008-11-28T15:12:00.004-06:00

I was reading a friend's blog (http://raising-arrows.blogspot.com/2008/11/for-geniuses-only.html ) and read about the Blog Readibiliy Test which scores what level of education is required to read a particular blog. Well... curiousity got the best of me and I just had to see where my blog came in at. Much to my surprise I came in at a genius level. Well, I knew couponers were smart but I had no idea how smart!!!

Movie Reviews

Have your blog scored at: http://www.criticsrant.com/bb/reading_level.aspx

Blessings!!!

FREE Dr. Pepper - OFFER EXTENDED!!!

2008-11-23T23:32:00.003-06:00

Beginning Sunday at 12:01 a.m., coupons for a FREE 20-ounce soda will be available for 24 hours on Dr Pepper’s Web site. (due to the traffic on their website Dr. Pepper has extended their coupons 18 more hours), Coupons will be emailed to your personal email address and honored until February 28, 2009.

FREE Daisy Sour Cream

2008-11-23T23:06:00.001-06:00

I found this link tonight and wanted to share... Daisy sour cream (8 oz.) are on sale at Dillon's this week for 10/$10. With this coupon, you should be able to get 2 for FREE (after you print one, hit your back button then refresh your screen and select retry and it should print a 2nd coupon for you!!).

http://www.daisybrand.com/fun/coupon.aspx

Happy savings!
Amy

2 GREAT Catalina Deals at Dillon's

2008-11-23T22:47:00.004-06:00

Here is a transaction from Dillon's yesterday that made for a great transaction thanks to 2 super catalina deals...

I bought:
24 cans of Dole Mandarin oranges (15 oz.), sale for 10/$10
8 blocks of Philadelphia cream cheese (8 oz.), sale for 4/$5
2 tubs of Cool Whip

Total was $36.65
less Qs -12.00 ($.55/2 Dole mand oranges, doubled to $1)
- 4.00 ($.50/2 philly cream cheese, doubled to $1)
- 1.76 (Free cool whip with purchase of 3 Kraft products from a Dillon's mailer)
subtotal $19.76
Catalinas - 4.00 (for purchase 7 or more philly cream cheese)
- 8.00 (8 - $.75 catalina for purchasing 3 dole mand oranges that doubled to $1 each)
NET $7.76

WOOHOO!!!

Great deal on Del Monte Green Beans at Dillon's

2008-11-23T09:16:00.006-06:00

Greetings, Coupon Friends!!! I found a good deal yesterday at Dillon's that I had to share with you... in the 11/16 Red Plum insert there was a coupon for $.30/1 Del Monte 50% Less Salt Vegetable. Well, they are $.79 each (regular price) at Dillon's (Kroger store) yesterday. When the $.30/1 coupon was doubled, that made the beans $.19 each!!! WOOHOO!!! I made need to order some more coupons for those!!