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Friday, December 31, 2010
Top Foods - $20 Shopping Trip
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Thursday, December 30, 2010
Resourceful Tip - Paper Clips
First, we were decorating the tree with our kids and we ran out of ornament hooks. These aren't expensive, but it definitely would have been a downer to only be able to decorate half the tree. DH had the marvelous idea of using a paper clip instead. It worked like a charm and the kids enjoyed bending the paper clips 'open' all by themselves.
Second, we had two events we had to dress up a little for and my wardrobe is severely limited. I was able to find a top on clearance at Kohl's but it required a racer-back undergarment which I don't own. So we applied a paper clip to the problem, sliding it up and down until we found just the right spot to keep all the undercover bits of clothing under cover. I only had to readjust once over the course of a six hour evening and not at all on the shorter night, so I'd say it did the trick.
Katie
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Where have I been?
I mentioned Monday that I'd explain my absence in today's post so here we go!
In essence I am trying to keep my priorities straight. Phoebe's birth (9/8) slowed me down more than I thought and I was really excited when I was able to fit blogging in again (late October). Unfortunately I hadn't yet made my daily Bible study fit, too. Mid-November as I was getting ready for our Thanksgiving company I let the blogging go because I was just super-busy. Then DH came down with pneumonia and we all were sleeping later which further cut into my blogging and Bible study time.
Then I decided I'd limit myself to blogging only when I had done my quiet time that day. An incentive to wake up earlier so I could have fun blogging later worked great! It worked so well, in fact, that I thought I'd make blogging come after lots of other things telling myself I could blog only if I got my Bible study, a shower, the homeschool, and the kitchen chores done. Hm. It was a little harder to do all of those things every day and then manage to blog in the afternoons, too. Time to rethink.
I generally have my Bible study in the mornings, before anyone else is up. The house is silent at 5:30 and I can most easily focus on the Lord and pray without distractions. I am in the habit of daily quiet times again, but definitely am not getting up at 5:00 like I used to! I'm lucky to be up by 6:00, but I can still have quiet time alone in my room after DH is up and doing his own Bible study elsewhere.
So now I am trying to blog each morning after I do my Bible study and before the kids wake up. We'll see how it goes. For example, today I wrote most of this post before the kids got up, but now am finishing it after homeschool and playing in the snow. The big girls are in the tub and DD3 is on my lap. The baby is sleeping.
Hope to keep seeing you!
Next week's update will be all the Novemer & December news and goals for January.
Katie
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Baked Potato Soup - Yum!
Ingredients:
4 large baking potatoes
2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup flour
6 cups milk
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. white pepper
4 green onions - chopped
12 slices bacon - cooked & crumbled (I recommend chopping the bacon up and then cooking it)
1 & 1/4 cup shredded cheddar
8 oz. sour cream
When the potatoes have cooled, slice them in half lengthwise and scoop out the pulp. Cut the pulp into bite sized pieces. You might save the skins to use in something else.
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In a big pot melt butter over low heat, then add flour, stirring until smooth. When it starts to bubble, let it cook for a minute or two, stirring constantly.
Gradually add milk, cooking at medium heat and stirring constantly until the soup thickens up.
Add the potato pulp, salt, black & white peppers, and most of the green onion, cheese & bacon. Everything you've added is already cooked so you're just warming those ingredients up. When it's heated through, add the sour cream.
Serve with reserved green onion, cheddar, and bacon.
This is a really yummy treat we love to make for company - let me know how you like it!
Katie
Monday, December 27, 2010
$5 off $25 purchase at TOP and $1 off coupons
I just read yesterday's Sunday paper and there was a full page TOP ad including $1 off departmental coupons (seafood, deli, produce, frozen, & dairy) good through Thursday with a $20 purchase.
The better deal was the coupon for 12/31 or 1/1 $5 off a $25 purchase. That's a 20% discount on your $25 of groceries. It also allows me to wait for the new ad to come in the mail tomorrow so I can see what's on sale Friday and Saturday and plan how to most efficiently spend that $25.
Katie
Monday Meal Plan
We ran out of milk yesterday and I wasn't able to get to the store because we had last-minute company for dinner. So I busted out my last frozen gallon this morning so the girls could have their cereal and I know I have to use that gallon in the next couple of days. We also have a well-stocked pantry & freezer because of all the holiday food sales so I'm just planning this week (and probably next week) based on what I've got on hand.
Dinners:
Monday - Baked Potato Soup (uses six cups of milk), green salad
Tuesday - Freezer Meal - Italian Chicken over whole wheat linguine, greek salad
Wednesday - Ham, Bean soup, green salad
Thursday - Turkey Pot Pie
Friday - New Year's Eve party
Saturday - New Year's Day party
Sunday - Christmas with extended family
Lunches:
Monday - Grilled Cheese
Tuesday - Quesadilla
Wednesday - Mac & Cheese
Thursday - PB & J
Friday - Taco Salad
Saturday - New Year's Day party
Sunday - Christmas with extended family
Hopefully I'll write again tomorrow!
Katie
Monday, November 15, 2010
Target & Albertson's Deals
Target has
- Campbell's condensed soups and Swanson broths for $.50, Del Monte vegetables for $.45, and at $.79 each are Stovetop stuffing, Betty Crocker potatoes, and Heinz gravy. Combine these with manufacturer's coupons for excellent deals.
- Carnation evaporated milk is $.89, Ocean Spray cranberry is $.95, and Libby's pure pumpkin is $1.29.
- A coupon in the ad for a $10 gift card with a new or transferred prescription. It's good for 2 weeks so I clipped in just in case one of my brood comes down with an ear infection, strep, or some other prescription requiring illnes in the next two weeks.
- Nature Made vitamins for $5. Combined with MCs this is a great deal.
A couple of random factoids:
- Ocean Spray owns/contracts with something like 95% of the United States' cranberry bogs/farmers. I know this because I grew up near Bandon, Oregon where there are many cranberry bogs.
- If you are having a hard time finding canned pumpkin this year it's because last year's pumpkin crops (used to make this year's canned pumpkin) were largely flooded.
Albertsons has
- Double Coupons good through Tuesday. I happened to get two inserts, Yahoo!
- $.27/lb turkey with a $25 purchase.
This totally beats Fred Meyer's deal of a free turkey with $150 purchase. Remember even a 20 pound turkey is less than $6. You don't have to spend $125 more to get a "Free" turkey when it only cost $5 or $6 to buy it after $25.
Happy Bargain Shopping!
Katie
Friday, November 12, 2010
Potluck Tips
Instead I signed up for a cheese tray because I had two kinds of cheese at home and cheese was on sale that week. Before the meeting, I was also able to find a second sale and in total I was able to prepare a cheese try with 4 kinds of cheese: yellow cheddar, colby jack, white cheddar and pepper jack. All the cheese was $2/lb or less, my price point for cheese, and I feel like I am taking something nice.
Here are my tips for an affordable potluck contribution:
- If there's a sign-up, do so quickly! You'll be able have your choice of what to bring if you are among the first to make a selection.
- If the potluck is in the near future, think about what you already have at home as you decide what to bring. You'll save a shopping trip and spend less.
- If the potluck is further way, think about what is affordable to buy or what you know is on sale or likely to be on sale.
- Shop for your contribution ahead of time and with an eye on sales.
- Prepare the food yourself, and make sure you set that time aside. A last minute deli purchase of deviled eggs will cost you!
Here are some of my favorite things to bring to potlucks:
- Breakfast/Brunch: hard-boiled eggs, egg/potato casserole, cheese tray, home-made breakfast bread.
- Lunch/Dinner: Dessert! A cake or brownie mix with frosting is under $2 if you buy it on sale, mashed potatoes, fruit or veggie tray (in summer when these prices are low or I can pick from the garden), cheese tray, condiments, cheese/crackers, potato salad, coleslaw, deviled eggs.
Katie