I meant to get a post out last week with recipes I was cooking for Christmas, but things got a little crazy (ha! imagine that!)... So you're getting two in one. :)
Our Christmas dinner was really simple.. Ham, shrimp, mashed potatoes, rolls, broccoli and pie and cookies for dessert.
Ham- I put it in the crock pot with 1/4 cup vinegar and about a cup of brown sugar on Christmas Eve. Then all I had to do was pop it in the cooker portion as breakfast was baking and it was done by lunch time.. About five hours on high, but it could have easily been on low since it was falling off the bone by lunch.
Shrimp- tablespoon of coconut oil in the pan, coat shrimp with italian seasoning (equal parts of garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, oregano, parsley), put shrimp in pan and sprinkle lemon juice on them. Cook until white, turn, cook until white (about five minutes on each side).
Mashed potatoes-peel, cut, boil, mash. I add salted butter and sour cream to ours because that's how we like it.
Broccoli-frozen broccoli, boiled in pan while potatoes cook. About ten minutes.
Rolls-I had bought crescent rolls on sale, but then my mother in law gave us some, so we used those instead
Pumpkin pie-I just followed the directions on the can and made my own pie crust.
Sugar Cookies-the kids and I made these Tuesday. I had planned on a cake, but Grace hasn't been feeling well so cookies were easier to do in parts. Just a basic sugar cookie recipe, with cream cheese frosting on the top. The kids got to decorate their own and then eat them of course!
For breakfast we had cinnamon rolls (remember those Pillsbury ones I got on sale?), eggs and bacon.. not like the kids ate many of those... I ended up eating them as the morning progressed...because who needs breakfast when you have presents?
Friday my husband was off so we made pigs in a blanket for lunch, Eva was the only one that ate them in the roll.. Adrianna and Andrew looked at me like I lost my mind. But Grace enjoyed the crescent roll they took off.
Today for New Year's Eve, I'm doing ham bone soup and a recipe for little smokies hubby found on Facebook...As long as I can find it, going to have to go searching on my Facebook page. We'll be in bed by 10, I guarantee it.
That's all that's going on here this week. Have a safe night tonight!
Triple Clicks
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Friday, December 19, 2014
Shopping Trip December 18
Hey, we had good sales, but of course we added a few things at the last minute and I found coconut sugar at Sam's. :D So I went over.
HyVee
Sour Cream 1.48
Sweet Cream Butter 4 at 2.68 each 10.72
Egg Nog 2 at 2.59 each 5.18
Cinnamon Rolls 2 at 2.00 each plus .02 gas reward 4.00
Crescet Rolls 2 at 2.00 ech plus .02 gas rewards 4.00
Macademia Nut Cookie dough (it's cheaper than making from scratch) 2.50
Cool Whip 2 at .68 each 1.36
Frozen Broccoli 2 at 1.28 each 2.56
Frozen Corn 2 at 1.09 each 2.18
Frozen Mixed Vegetables 1.09
Hashbrowns 2.99
Diapers 5.99
Pullups 7.99
Fruit Snacks 2.00
Charmin 2 at3.99 each 7.98
Dr. Pepper 2 at .99 each 1.98
Folgers 9.69
Baking Powder 1.29
Baking Soda 5 at .69 each 3.45
Snack size baggies 2 at 1.59 each 3.18
Italian Dressing 3 at 1.99 each 5.97
Powdered Sugar 1.69
Root Beer 2 at .99 each 1.98
Evaporated Milk 1.69
Vanilla 1.88
Shrimp 15.99
Lil Smokies 2 at 3.00 each 6.00
Cream Cheese 3 at 1.50 each 4.50
Sunflower Seeds 2 at 2.50 each 5.00
Yellow Onions 1.88 with .02 gas rewards
Total 135.23
Sam's Club
Digirnio 3 Meat 3 pack 13.98
Digiornio Pepperoni 3 pack 13.98
Vinegar 2 pack 3.88
Eggs 36 ct 2 at 4.72 each 9.44
American Cheese Sliced 13.52
Bacon bits 10.35
Flour 3.76
Chicken Breast 9.02
Shredded Cheddar Chese 14.98
Organic Coconut Sugar 12.98
Bacon 2 at 8.68 each 17.36
Strawberry Jam 2 pack 5.78
Croutons 5.38
Creamer 5.87
Tomato Sauce 7.68
Diced Tomatoes 6.28
Total 163.49
Walmart
Engine Cleaner for van 1.88
Twix .74
Ham 15.65
Tapatio Sauce 2.98
Bandaids 1.97 and 2 at 2.47 6.91
Cookies N Cream Candy Bar .74
Pringles 8 at 1.50 each 12.00
Total 43.35
Dollar General
Paper Towels 8 pack 5.00
Tortillas 3 at 2.00 each 6.00
Dish Soap 1.00
Total 12.72
Trip Total 354.79
As I look more closely at my receipts, I realize I was not careful and picked up the wrong containers with the shrimp and pringles as I had not planned on paying that much for things that were on sale-be careful when you pick things up!
Have a Merry Christmas!
HyVee
Sour Cream 1.48
Sweet Cream Butter 4 at 2.68 each 10.72
Egg Nog 2 at 2.59 each 5.18
Cinnamon Rolls 2 at 2.00 each plus .02 gas reward 4.00
Crescet Rolls 2 at 2.00 ech plus .02 gas rewards 4.00
Macademia Nut Cookie dough (it's cheaper than making from scratch) 2.50
Cool Whip 2 at .68 each 1.36
Frozen Broccoli 2 at 1.28 each 2.56
Frozen Corn 2 at 1.09 each 2.18
Frozen Mixed Vegetables 1.09
Hashbrowns 2.99
Diapers 5.99
Pullups 7.99
Fruit Snacks 2.00
Charmin 2 at3.99 each 7.98
Dr. Pepper 2 at .99 each 1.98
Folgers 9.69
Baking Powder 1.29
Baking Soda 5 at .69 each 3.45
Snack size baggies 2 at 1.59 each 3.18
Italian Dressing 3 at 1.99 each 5.97
Powdered Sugar 1.69
Root Beer 2 at .99 each 1.98
Evaporated Milk 1.69
Vanilla 1.88
Shrimp 15.99
Lil Smokies 2 at 3.00 each 6.00
Cream Cheese 3 at 1.50 each 4.50
Sunflower Seeds 2 at 2.50 each 5.00
Yellow Onions 1.88 with .02 gas rewards
Total 135.23
Sam's Club
Digirnio 3 Meat 3 pack 13.98
Digiornio Pepperoni 3 pack 13.98
Vinegar 2 pack 3.88
Eggs 36 ct 2 at 4.72 each 9.44
American Cheese Sliced 13.52
Bacon bits 10.35
Flour 3.76
Chicken Breast 9.02
Shredded Cheddar Chese 14.98
Organic Coconut Sugar 12.98
Bacon 2 at 8.68 each 17.36
Strawberry Jam 2 pack 5.78
Croutons 5.38
Creamer 5.87
Tomato Sauce 7.68
Diced Tomatoes 6.28
Total 163.49
Walmart
Engine Cleaner for van 1.88
Twix .74
Ham 15.65
Tapatio Sauce 2.98
Bandaids 1.97 and 2 at 2.47 6.91
Cookies N Cream Candy Bar .74
Pringles 8 at 1.50 each 12.00
Total 43.35
Dollar General
Paper Towels 8 pack 5.00
Tortillas 3 at 2.00 each 6.00
Dish Soap 1.00
Total 12.72
Trip Total 354.79
As I look more closely at my receipts, I realize I was not careful and picked up the wrong containers with the shrimp and pringles as I had not planned on paying that much for things that were on sale-be careful when you pick things up!
Have a Merry Christmas!
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Ads are Out! Shopping Trip December 17
It's been a month already, Ads are out for my shopping trip again.
If you like shellfish, within the next month, now is your time to fill your craving. While it's still expensive, it's a little cheaper than the rest of the year.
HyVee has special sales for crab, lobster and shrimp. Personally, we are taking advantage of the shrimp.
Here's the ad links. Have fun!
Wal-mart
Sunshine
Fareway, Fareway Online, Fareway Special Sale
Hy-Vee
Personally, I've been a little disappointed with Fareway. For quite awhile after they opened, they had the cheapest meat prices around. But now they don't, I haven't shopped there in quite awhile. It's just not conducive to our budget.
We have two special meals happening this coming month. Christmas and Eva's birthday. For Christmas I am planning ham, shrimp, potatoes, vegetables, pumpkin pie and cake (my Eva can't have cherries or pumpkins, so that's the alternative of choice this time). For Eva's birthday we're doing her favorite food, pizza, and the requested Thomas the train cake. I plan on finding a different train from Thomas to put on top since I made a Thomas cake for Andrew last year.
If you like shellfish, within the next month, now is your time to fill your craving. While it's still expensive, it's a little cheaper than the rest of the year.
HyVee has special sales for crab, lobster and shrimp. Personally, we are taking advantage of the shrimp.
Here's the ad links. Have fun!
Wal-mart
Sunshine
Fareway, Fareway Online, Fareway Special Sale
Hy-Vee
Personally, I've been a little disappointed with Fareway. For quite awhile after they opened, they had the cheapest meat prices around. But now they don't, I haven't shopped there in quite awhile. It's just not conducive to our budget.
We have two special meals happening this coming month. Christmas and Eva's birthday. For Christmas I am planning ham, shrimp, potatoes, vegetables, pumpkin pie and cake (my Eva can't have cherries or pumpkins, so that's the alternative of choice this time). For Eva's birthday we're doing her favorite food, pizza, and the requested Thomas the train cake. I plan on finding a different train from Thomas to put on top since I made a Thomas cake for Andrew last year.
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
It's staying Cold Now
I saw a higher temperature today and actually believed it would happen.
But it didn't. So now we are staying cold and despite us keeping out tomato sauce, we miss chili.. So we are going to try chili.
Grace has been trying out finger foods, she much prefers this to baby puree-can't say as I blame her much. I scramble her an egg a day and she gets some handfuls of boiled, finely chopped mixed veggies, some fruit-mostly bananas for now, and cheerios. This child could survive off cheerios.
I found some sausage in our freezer, so the kids and I had pizza today.
Pizza dough
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon dry active yeast
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tablespoons oil
2 teaspoons salt
Beat about 25 times until mixed then let rise for 5 minutes.
Bake at 425 for 8 minutes, add your toppings, bake for 10 more minutes.
Pizza Sauce
15 ounce can of tomato sauce
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
1 tablespoon oregano
Bring to a boil then simmer for at least 1/2 hour. The longer it simmers, the more flavor transfers to the tomato sauce.
Chili
4 pounds hamburger
4 cans tomato sauce
4 cans diced tomatoes
4 cans chili beans or one bag pinto peans- make sure you prepare these according to instructions on the bag
4 tablespoons chili powder
Bring to boil then simmer until you are ready to eat.
Our favorite topping include, shredded cheddar cheese, tabasco or louisiana hot sauce, saltines and rice. My husband likes rice under his chili, then mixes that, cheese and tabasco all together and dips with the crackers. The kids and i just do cheese and crackers, although the tabasco does add a nice flavor.
Stay warm!
But it didn't. So now we are staying cold and despite us keeping out tomato sauce, we miss chili.. So we are going to try chili.
Grace has been trying out finger foods, she much prefers this to baby puree-can't say as I blame her much. I scramble her an egg a day and she gets some handfuls of boiled, finely chopped mixed veggies, some fruit-mostly bananas for now, and cheerios. This child could survive off cheerios.
I found some sausage in our freezer, so the kids and I had pizza today.
Pizza dough
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon dry active yeast
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tablespoons oil
2 teaspoons salt
Beat about 25 times until mixed then let rise for 5 minutes.
Bake at 425 for 8 minutes, add your toppings, bake for 10 more minutes.
Pizza Sauce
15 ounce can of tomato sauce
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
1 tablespoon oregano
Bring to a boil then simmer for at least 1/2 hour. The longer it simmers, the more flavor transfers to the tomato sauce.
Chili
4 pounds hamburger
4 cans tomato sauce
4 cans diced tomatoes
4 cans chili beans or one bag pinto peans- make sure you prepare these according to instructions on the bag
4 tablespoons chili powder
Bring to boil then simmer until you are ready to eat.
Our favorite topping include, shredded cheddar cheese, tabasco or louisiana hot sauce, saltines and rice. My husband likes rice under his chili, then mixes that, cheese and tabasco all together and dips with the crackers. The kids and i just do cheese and crackers, although the tabasco does add a nice flavor.
Stay warm!
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
This and That and the Other
Well, I told you I was going to set a reminder on my phone to do a blog post, and it worked! Imagine that. :)
There are a lot of things going on here lately, Andrew is recognizing letters and numbers everywhere and can tell us what they are and some of them he can tell us what sounds they make. I guess you could say I'm on the unschooling bandwagon, which works just fine until I have to register with the state in a few years as homeschooler. My understanding of unschooling is that you teach through life experiences, cooking is math, bible study is reading, reading comp, math, histoy (heck, you could homeschool with JUST the Bible and get A LOT out of it).
A must for me to stay awake is coffee. I love my coffee-just ask anybody, coffee and me are buds (think of Lorelai from Gilmore Girls-yep, that's me!). But sometimes, just plain black coffee gets a little boring.. So I go to my cupboard and flavor it up a bit. My favorite concoction this week has been Chocolate Caramel Coffee.
Squirt of Chocolate Syrup, Squirt of Caramel Syrup, Tablespoon of powder creamer. Fill the coffee cup and stir, top with whipped topping and more caramel if you have it around.
When I was at my mom's my sister joined forces and craft supplies and made our babes barettes and hair ribbons. That was fun. :) Now I have something to keep Grace's hair out of her face and I can make more when I get more ribbon if I want. I'm hoping she'll tolerate it when she's two instead of a wrestling match just to get it brushed like I have now with Eva. Thanks to Pinterest, we got some good ideas and instructions on how to do it.
There are a lot of things going on here lately, Andrew is recognizing letters and numbers everywhere and can tell us what they are and some of them he can tell us what sounds they make. I guess you could say I'm on the unschooling bandwagon, which works just fine until I have to register with the state in a few years as homeschooler. My understanding of unschooling is that you teach through life experiences, cooking is math, bible study is reading, reading comp, math, histoy (heck, you could homeschool with JUST the Bible and get A LOT out of it).
A must for me to stay awake is coffee. I love my coffee-just ask anybody, coffee and me are buds (think of Lorelai from Gilmore Girls-yep, that's me!). But sometimes, just plain black coffee gets a little boring.. So I go to my cupboard and flavor it up a bit. My favorite concoction this week has been Chocolate Caramel Coffee.
Squirt of Chocolate Syrup, Squirt of Caramel Syrup, Tablespoon of powder creamer. Fill the coffee cup and stir, top with whipped topping and more caramel if you have it around.
When I was at my mom's my sister joined forces and craft supplies and made our babes barettes and hair ribbons. That was fun. :) Now I have something to keep Grace's hair out of her face and I can make more when I get more ribbon if I want. I'm hoping she'll tolerate it when she's two instead of a wrestling match just to get it brushed like I have now with Eva. Thanks to Pinterest, we got some good ideas and instructions on how to do it.
My finished barettes.
Here's my Pinterest board that has most of the instructions I used. My sister's girl doesn't have any hair, so she mostly crafted flowers from the ribbon to attach to elastic bands.
Have a good week!
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Thanksgiving
I realized this morning that I completely forgot to post last week from my shopping trip. I'm sorry. It's been a crazy week. We took a road trip and the kids and I got sick.. So we are finally back here. I hope you were able to find some awesome deals on Thanksgiving food last week.
So I figured I'd give you my meal plan for Thanksgiving. It's no big spread as I'm hearing many of my friends are doing, but it's something.
Bone in Ham
Rolls
Mashed Potatoes
Corn
Pumpkin Pie
Banana Cream Pie
A lot of our favorites have been eliminated thanks to the food allergies. I have a really hard time eating foods in front of my kids that they can't have.. So I just eliminated the sweet potatoes.
The rolls will be if I remember them... I never do, so we'll see. The ham gets thrown in the crock pot with brown sugar in the morning and by the time the Macy's parade is over, lunch is done. :) Mashed potatoes and corn are pretty simple.
I'm making the pies today. My husband really wants pumpkin with whipped topping of course (which was on sale for .67 a container). I've never made banana cream pie before.. but I needed something for Eva since she can't have the pumpkin and there's a can of that in the cupboard and I plan on eating it with Eva so she's not the only one eating something different.
Also today I'm making cinnamon rolls for breakfast/brunch. We usually eat lunch pretty early... but we get up really early too..so it throws everything else out of whack. So I'm hoping the cinnamon rolls will keep the kids happy until lunch is done.
How I plan on my morning going, is getting all the prep work done by the time the parade starts-including washing and chopping the potatoes. That way all I have to do is turn on burners and throw the rolls in the oven and things will be done when the parade is done. We are still working on what traditions we want on Holidays for our family, but I think cinnamon rolls during the parades is a great start.
Have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving. I'm putting a reminder on my phone to do a post every week...so barring sickness, I'll be better about doing posts. :D
So I figured I'd give you my meal plan for Thanksgiving. It's no big spread as I'm hearing many of my friends are doing, but it's something.
Bone in Ham
Rolls
Mashed Potatoes
Corn
Pumpkin Pie
Banana Cream Pie
A lot of our favorites have been eliminated thanks to the food allergies. I have a really hard time eating foods in front of my kids that they can't have.. So I just eliminated the sweet potatoes.
The rolls will be if I remember them... I never do, so we'll see. The ham gets thrown in the crock pot with brown sugar in the morning and by the time the Macy's parade is over, lunch is done. :) Mashed potatoes and corn are pretty simple.
I'm making the pies today. My husband really wants pumpkin with whipped topping of course (which was on sale for .67 a container). I've never made banana cream pie before.. but I needed something for Eva since she can't have the pumpkin and there's a can of that in the cupboard and I plan on eating it with Eva so she's not the only one eating something different.
Also today I'm making cinnamon rolls for breakfast/brunch. We usually eat lunch pretty early... but we get up really early too..so it throws everything else out of whack. So I'm hoping the cinnamon rolls will keep the kids happy until lunch is done.
How I plan on my morning going, is getting all the prep work done by the time the parade starts-including washing and chopping the potatoes. That way all I have to do is turn on burners and throw the rolls in the oven and things will be done when the parade is done. We are still working on what traditions we want on Holidays for our family, but I think cinnamon rolls during the parades is a great start.
Have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving. I'm putting a reminder on my phone to do a post every week...so barring sickness, I'll be better about doing posts. :D
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Frugal Holidays
Everybody looks to save money around the holidays. Probably more so around this time of year than others. So here are some tips we try to use.
Save up for gifts throughout the year
You could really do this tip a few different ways. Some people buy gifts throughout the year, then stash them around the house until Christmas. Which works great unless you have curious children (who doesn't?). Some people save up money throughout the year, then buy closer to the holidays when there's more of a selection for toys, less time to hide the stash this way. There are also some banks and credit unions that have a 'Christmas Savings Account' to help you save the money. We've done both here and there, labeling boxes or toys as they come in as to WHO is getting it (that way we don't forget...it's been known to happen). Either way you do it, shop the sales. You still get the same toys you want, but for cheaper. Amazon has daily deals, Shopko has quarterly deals. Ebay has great resources, too. You never know what you can find on Ebay for a good deal.
If you do stocking stuffers, raid the Dollar Tree or other dollar aisle in your favorite store. They have some great things there for cheap.
Save on food by shopping the sales
Shop the sales. Shop close to the holiday and shop the sales. I really can't say this enough. I use holiday sales to stock up on spices, because they are usually really cheap this time of year. If you like canned pumpkin, many stores have it for REALLY cheap this time of year. Same with turkey, ham, potatoes, yams-all the holiday staples. Keep a closer eye on the ads and get what you need and like for cheap as they go on sale. Whipped Cream freezes, buy a lot, stick it in the freezer, then thaw as you want it.
Use discount stores for holiday decor and party supplies (warning, I plug our ebay store in this one.. I want the stuff out of my house and I know my mother in law feels the same)
This isn't one we use to buy as I'm not really the decorating type, but we do put product online with our ebay store as per the holiday (check us out). Dollar Stores have quality decorations and they are budget friendly. Paper plates (decorative or not), napkins, cups, centerpieces, place cards. You name it, you can more than likely find it. It certainly can't hurt to look, right?
That's really all the tips I can think of right now. Don't throw your budget out the window just because it's the holiday season.
Save up for gifts throughout the year
You could really do this tip a few different ways. Some people buy gifts throughout the year, then stash them around the house until Christmas. Which works great unless you have curious children (who doesn't?). Some people save up money throughout the year, then buy closer to the holidays when there's more of a selection for toys, less time to hide the stash this way. There are also some banks and credit unions that have a 'Christmas Savings Account' to help you save the money. We've done both here and there, labeling boxes or toys as they come in as to WHO is getting it (that way we don't forget...it's been known to happen). Either way you do it, shop the sales. You still get the same toys you want, but for cheaper. Amazon has daily deals, Shopko has quarterly deals. Ebay has great resources, too. You never know what you can find on Ebay for a good deal.
If you do stocking stuffers, raid the Dollar Tree or other dollar aisle in your favorite store. They have some great things there for cheap.
Save on food by shopping the sales
Shop the sales. Shop close to the holiday and shop the sales. I really can't say this enough. I use holiday sales to stock up on spices, because they are usually really cheap this time of year. If you like canned pumpkin, many stores have it for REALLY cheap this time of year. Same with turkey, ham, potatoes, yams-all the holiday staples. Keep a closer eye on the ads and get what you need and like for cheap as they go on sale. Whipped Cream freezes, buy a lot, stick it in the freezer, then thaw as you want it.
Use discount stores for holiday decor and party supplies (warning, I plug our ebay store in this one.. I want the stuff out of my house and I know my mother in law feels the same)
This isn't one we use to buy as I'm not really the decorating type, but we do put product online with our ebay store as per the holiday (check us out). Dollar Stores have quality decorations and they are budget friendly. Paper plates (decorative or not), napkins, cups, centerpieces, place cards. You name it, you can more than likely find it. It certainly can't hurt to look, right?
That's really all the tips I can think of right now. Don't throw your budget out the window just because it's the holiday season.
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