Singing Sunday--The Heart of Christmas

My pastor shared this song as part of his message today. I love the message of the song. No matter what problems or troubles we have with family or friends this Christmas lets remember the true meaning Christmas...that God sent His son, Jesus to come to earth as a baby and later take all of our sins to the cross and die for us. Without Him coming we would have had to die in our sins. We can truly be happy this Christmas because no matter what is happening in our lives we can know that we are His sons and daughters. 

Jesus is the Reason for the Season!

Merry Christmas!

Holiday Goodie Plates

I love to bake!  I love to share my creations with others! What better time to share baked goods with friends and neighbors than at the holiday season. I am going to share with you how to make up holiday sample plates for gift giving to your friends and neighbors for the holidays.

After the Thanksgiving bustle is finished, I take the time to write down a list of goodies (around a dozen) and some are family favorites while a few others are new things to try.  I always look through my pantry stockpile to see what baked goods on the list I can do without having to purchase items to complete the goodies.  Once I have completed my list I look over it to see what goodies (like fudge, & bread) will freeze without problems and I mark those as the first to complete.  When I make my list I try to make things that share the same ingredients but are different, like my peanut butter & chocolate day, so that I do not have to get LOTS of different ingredients that I might not use again.

Now that we have the list of goodies figured out, it is time to get baking!  I try to make something every day during the first three weeks of December so that I do not feel overwhelmed, however, that doesn’t always happen!  Some years I have done one or two big baking days and called it good!  

One tip about baking cookies for the sample plates: if you have a small scoop or small cookie cutters or a cookie press use those instead of your larger scoops or cutters!  Using the smaller items means that you will get more cookies out of your dough and it will take less baking time, hence making things move a little faster and truly making the plates where you are able to get a sampling of everything that you have baked rather than just a few items.

The baking is done and it is a couple days before Christmas, now is the time to put your plates together! I purchased a couple of packages of Christmas styrofoam plates to use.  I got two different sizes, so that my neighbors who are widowed or just a couple get the smaller ones while the families with kids get the bigger plates.   I set out the plates and the goodies on my dining room table and the kids and I work at putting goodies on the plate.  There is a catch to putting the goodies on the plate…we put enough of each goodie for each person in the family. So if the plate is going to go to the family of five next door then we put only five snickerdoodles or five pieces of fudge and continue to fill the plate with five of the different goodies until the plate is full.  If the plate is going to the widow across the street then I will only fill the plate with one or two pieces of each of the goodies.  I also give a mini loaf of bread (yeast or quick) with the sample plate, I have those wrapped in foil and have labeled them as to what they are and give them right out of the freezer so that if the recipient wants they can place the bread back in the freezer to use at a different time.

Once the plate is full, I put a piece of saran wrap over each plate and fill out a gift tag and get a bow to stick on the top of the plate.  The plates are now ready to deliver. I put the plates together so it is hubby turn to do his part of the giving!  He and a couple of the older kids deliver the goodies to the neighbors either on December 23^rd or Christmas Eve before the different families leave for Christmas celebrations.

So even though the sample goodie plates take time and effort they are something that the whole family can help in preparing and the neighbors will appreciate the thoughtfulness.  

Merry Christmas to you and your family!

This post is linked to:

• Living Well Wednesday at Women Living Well Ministries!

Double Chocolate Pancakes

I am one that likes to follow recipes when I bake and not tweak recipes if I can help it.  I like to go for those tried and true or family recipes that have been passed down over the years.  Experimenting in the kitchen is just not something I like to do on a regular basis.

However, I decided to step out of my box and try something different for breakfast and tweak my Mom's buttermilk pancakes recipe to make them their double chocolate pancakes.  Those pancakes that IHOP has that my boys have been asking me for a while to make some for them.  I have been putting it off because I really had not found a recipe that seemed doable. Now I can say I have found a recipe and to think I had the recipe already on hand and was just too afraid to tweak it!

Double Chocolate Pancakes

1 ¼ cups flour
1 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. + 2 tsp. cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
2 tbsp. veggie oil
1 egg
1 ¼ cups buttermilk
1/2 - 3/4 cups mini chocolate chips

Mix together the dry ingredients including the chocolate chips.  Add in the veggie oil, egg, and buttermilk to the dry mixture.  Once the mixture is moist and smooth, pour onto a hot griddle to cook.

Normally, I do a triple batch of pancakes so before I tweaked the recipe today I already had the recipe written down as a triple batch which actually made adding the cocoa powder and chocolate chips easier.

Double Chocolate Pancakes
(triple batch)

1 3/4 cups white flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
3 tbsp. sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. veggie oil
3 eggs
3 3/4 cups buttermilk
1 3/4 cups mini chocolate chips

Mix dry ingredients together including chocolate chips. Add in veggie oil, eggs, and buttermilk to dry mixture.  Once the mixture is moist and smooth, pour onto a hot griddle to cook.

Review: My kids loved these pancakes with butter and maple syrup on them. One commented that they could eat them just plain.  Another commented that adding a dusting of powdered sugar would be good.  My hubby even enjoyed them and he said they tasted like he was eating a chocolate fudge poptart only with maple syrup on it.  Definitely a hit here!

This post is linked to: 

• Friday Food at Mom Trends!
• Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum!
• Food on Friday at Ann Kroeker!
• This Week's Craving at Mom's Crazy Cooking!
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace! 
• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!
• Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff!

Veteran's Day Tribute

As a wife of a Persian Gulf War veteran and a relative of veterans of WWII, Korea and Vietnam, I want to say thank you to those men, and women that are serving our country. I also want to say thank you to the families of those who served our country and gave their lives.

Coupons to Support Veterans

There are some high value coupons that you can print at the Believe in Heroes website. Each of the companies(All, Sweet Baby Ray's, Heinz, Minute Maid, Ocean Spray, & Motts to name a few) represented in the coupons has donated to and supported the Wounded Warrior Project to help wounded veterans. 

Weekly Shopping Trips 9/25-9/30

This week's shopping trips was my major shopping for this pay period. Despite the sale ads not being that great I was able to get several things for cheap or free and use coupons that were going to expire.

I did two trips to Meijer this week and did very well. I got some free candy bars, cheap taco seasoning and taco sauce, along with some cheap cottage cheese and breaded fish.

Along with my Meijer trips, I went to Walgreens, Target, Family Fare, and Duthler's.

The Walgreens and Target trip were to get some non-grocery items that were on sale there that I could use a few of my expiring coupons.

Walgreens:

• 2 bottles OxiClean spray 
• 2 tubes Aspercreme 

Total OOP: $7.74

Total Savings: $13.65

Target: 

• 1 Cascade PowrPacs
• 2 bottles Clorox bleach
• 20 ct. Tide Stain Release
• 1 bottle Aussie shampoo = Free after cpn
• 1 bottle Herbal Essence shampoo = Free after cpn
• 1 tube Neosporin
• 20ct Bandaids

Total OOP: $12.63

Total Savings: $12.22

Family Fare: 

• 8pk Bounty paper towels
• 24 cups Yoplait yogurt
• 6 lbs apples
• 6.95 lbs ground beef
• 1 dz. eggs

Total OOP: $34.04

Total Savings: $30.44

Duthlers: 

• 2 half gallons Chocolate Milk

Total OOP: $2.66

Total Savings: $2.70

Grand Total OOP: $57.07

Grand Total Savings: $59.01


This post is linked to:

• Shopping Round-up at The Grocery Cart Challenge!

Meijer Shopping Trips (9/25-9/30)

1st trip:

• 8 candy bars
• 2 Pepsi 2 liters 
• 2 bags Chex Mix 
• 4 boxes Pizza Rolls 
• 2 boxes Eggo waffles 
• 1 jar Dole Peaches 
• 3 Warm Delight Brownies 
• 1 Juicy Juice 64 oz  

I used a $2 off next shopping order Cat that I had along with coupons that were going to expire today and MPerks.

My total out of pocket: $15.60
My total savings: $22.08

Here is one scenario from my 1st trip to Meijer:

2 Hershey Bars $1.58
2 Hershey Aerated $1.58
4 Reeses $3.16
Total $6.32
I used 2- B1G1 coupons(8-28 Smartsource insert) for the Hershey Bars/Aerated so that knocked $1.58 off or what would be equal to 2 free bars and then got 3 bars free due to the deal of Buy 5 get 3 free. So I got 8 bars of chocolate for the price of 3 bars which equals $2.37.

2nd trip(the bigger of the 2):

• 1 head of lettuce 
• 2 Ortega seasoning mixes
• 2.18lbs apples 
• 6 dozen eggs 
• 4 bags frozen corn 
• 2 loaves Texas Toast 
• 1 box onion soup mix 
• 4 cans tomato sauce 
• 2 small bottles Ortega taco sauce 
• 2 containers cottage cheese 
• 2 boxes brownies 
• 2 bags Gorton's fish fillets
• 2 bags BC cookie mix 
•  4 boxes Gogurt 
• 2 boxes pie crust 
• 2 bags Tostitos 
• 2 bags Tyson chicken nuggets 
• 4 bags Ore Ida potatoes 
• 4 boxes GM cereal 
• 4 Tombstones pizzas 

My total out of pocket: $76.97
My total savings: $74.03

Just to give you a couple of scenarios from the 2nd trip:

2 Ortega taco seasonings $1.32
2 8oz bottles Ortega taco sauce $2.82
Used 2-$1.00/2 internet printable 
Used 1-$1.00/4 Mealbox cpn 
Total: $1.14 for all 4 items! or 29 cents/item!

2 bags Gorton Fish Fillets $9.98
Promo buy 2 get $2.00 off instantly
used 2- $1.00/1 peelie Q (found on Ortega products back along the way)
Total: $5.98 for 2 bags

2-24 oz Daisy Cottage cheese $4.98
used 2-65¢/1 tearpad Qs(found those a few weeks ago)
used $1.00/2 Mealbox cpn
Total: $2.68 for 2 or $1.34 each!

Grand Total OOP: $92.57
Grand Total Savings: $96.11

I am very pleased with my results this week.

Meijer Trip

This week, Meijer is having a great 10 for $10 get 11th item free sale!!  So I decided to take some time today and go get a few things before the end of the week and before the shelves were cleared out.

Here are the items that I purchased today:

10 for $10 get 11th item free items:

6 bottles Gatorade
5 boxes Banquet Brown & Serve sausages
2 bags Chex Mix(used 50/2 cpn)
2 boxes Betty Crocker Potatoes(used $1/2 cpn)
3 boxes Betty Crocker Cake Mixes
6 tubes Grands Biscuits
6 cups Easy Mac & Cheese
6 Banquet Dinners(used 3-50/2 cpns)
3 bags Light & Fluffy Egg Noodles
4 boxes Pizza Rolls
2 10pk Snack Size Candy
2 boxes Jello Pudding(used 55/2 cpn--found as a tearpad cpn several months ago)
5 Lunchables
3 bags Jet Marshmallows(used 60/3 cpn)

Other Sale items:

3 jars Peter Pan PB (used MBox $1/3 cpn + 3-50/1 cpn)
1 bag Tyson chicken nuggets
2 boxes Snackwell snacks (used Mbox $1/2 cpn + $1/2 cpn)
2 boxes Dove Ice Cream treats (used Mbox $1/2 cpn + 2-$1/1 cpn)

**used a $2 off shopping coupon as well

Total: $56.27
Savings: $52.49 ($10.65 worth of coupons used!!)

Not bad considering, I wanted to keep my total under $60 today! I was able to get some items I needed plus do some stockpiling. Stockpiling is something I haven't been doing lately because the sales have not been very good.

Singing Sunday--Blessing by Laura Story

I have heard this song a couple of times on the radio and really love the message that it sends to those who hear it!




We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering

All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops?
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?

What if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough

And all the while You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?

And what if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?

What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst
This world can’t satisfy?

And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise?

Easy Bacon Burgers with Seasoned Pan Fries

I love making this meal because of how fast and easy it is to put together. I find that I can get this meal done in about a half hour.  It definitely is one of those meals that cuts my time in the kitchen.

How does the meal get done in a half hour?

• burgers already prepped to use coming out of the freezer. 
• pre-made diced potatoes
• baking the bacon either on the grill or oven. 

Prepped Burgers


When I buy my ground beef in bulk, I take the time to make up raw burger patties and stick them in the freezer with wax paper separating each patty then sticking them in a freezer bag.  Doing this helps cut my  meal preparation along with having quick meals ready to roll out of the freezer for those busy summer days.  I usually will pull them out of the freezer at lunch time so that by dinner time they are thawed enough to separate to go on the grill.  For dinner, I just grill them while fixing the rest of the dinner.

Pre-made Diced Potatoes

I have tried to do diced potatoes for the freezer but have not come up with a good way to do them where the texture doesn't change too much of the potatoes.  So if I am making the diced potatoes from whole potatoes I work on peeling and dicing potatoes around the lunch hour and then letting them soak in salt water until I use them for dinner.

If I want to make things very quick then I will just pull out a bag or two of Southern style hash brown potatoes from the freezer that I have bought from the store on sale.

To cook either the fresh or frozen way: I put 2-3 tbsps olive oil and 4 tbsps margarine in the skillet before placing the potatoes in the skillet.  Once the margarine is melted and sizzling a bit I pour the potatoes in(drain the water off the fresh first before cooking).   As the potatoes cook, I just shake in some seasoned salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and black pepper. Sorry I don't have measurements for those spices, I just shake in to our tastes.

Cooking Bacon

A couple of years ago, I underwent a change in my kitchen on how I cooked bacon for the family.  I had always fried the bacon in a skillet but I was tired of how long it took to cook a pound of bacon. I did an experiment for one meal where I did fried and baked bacon to see what the family would say about the baked bacon.  The results of the experiment was baked bacon was the way to go!  Now I just bake the bacon along with the rest of the meal. Stick the bacon on a jelly roll style pan and place in the oven at 400°. It usually takes about 15-20 minutes for the bacon to cook completely.

If you do not want to heat up the kitchen you can do the same thing on your grill as what you do for cooking the bacon in the oven.  I do not have a pan for the bacon to go on my grill so I just put some foil down on the grill grates and cook the bacon.   I use a gas grill so I make sure that side of the grill is on low while the burgers cook on the side.   I definitely watch the grill very closely while the bacon is cooking.

Once everything is cooked it is ready to fix your burgers!  I love mine topped with lettuce and mayonnaise and if I have fresh tomatoes I will slice one to put a couple of slices on the burger.

I love putting together this meal in the summertime because it is fast and easy and very filling.

This post is linked to: 

• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday over at At The Well!
• Tuesdays at the Table over at All the Small Stuff!

Singing Sunday Strong Enough- Matthew West

An awesome new song from Matthew West! It is a great reminder that when we are weak in our trials, the Lord is strong enough to pull us through them! As the song and Philippians 4:13 says " I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength!"

You must, You must think I’m strong

To give me what I’m going through

Well forgive me, forgive me if I’m wrong

But this looks like more than I can do

On my own

I know I’m not strong enough to be

Everything that I’m supposed to be

I give up, I’m not strong enough

Hands of mercy won’t You cover me?

Lord, right now I’m asking You to be

Strong enough, strong enough

For the both of us

Well maybe, maybe that’s the point

To reach the point of giving up

‘Cause when I’m finally, finally at rock bottom

Well that’s when I start looking up

And reaching out

I know I’m not strong enough to be

Everything that I’m supposed to be

I give up, I’m not strong enough

Hands of mercy won’t You cover me?

Lord, right now I’m asking You to be

Strong enough, strong enough

For the both of us

‘Cause I’m broken

Down to nothing

But I’m still holding on to the one thing

You are God

And You are strong when I am weak

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength

And I don’t have to be strong enough

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength

And I don’t have to be

Strong enough, strong enough

Oh yeah

I know I’m not strong enough to be

Everything that I’m supposed to be

I give up, I’m not strong enough

Hands of mercy won’t You cover me?

Lord, right now I’m asking You to be

Strong enough, strong enough

For the both of us

Ways to use Ground Beef!

I have shared before how to purchase meat on the cheap, and with the summer months upon us I thought it would be a great time to share different ways to use ground meat. I usually can't get ground beef on Manager's specials/markdowns so I usually will purchase it in bulk at Sam's. Sometimes though I able to find it in the grocery stores for cheap and with the summer grilling season upon us now will be the time to look for the sales at the grocery store.  I will get around 9-10 lbs all at once, sometimes more! When I first starting getting it in bulk, I thought what in the world am I going to make with all this meat! I thought I would end up having and making the same thing all time! Well I found several recipes that have become family favorites. I like to use ground beef for my recipes but you can use ground pork or ground turkey as well!

I cook all my ground meat and then divide it into one pound packages for the freezer so that I can just pull out what I need to make the following recipes...

Queso Dip (This makes a quick lunch or appetizer!)

One large Velveeta Cheese

1 can Rotel tomatoes

½ pound of hamburger (approximately)

Slice up the Velveeta cheese in to a big bowl

Add ¼ cup milk

Melt in the microwave

Add ground beef and Rotel tomatoes

Stir and put in crock pot

Serve with the tortilla chips!

To make for large get-togethers I make 2 large Velveeta Cheese, 2 cans of Rotel tomatoes, and 1-1 ½ pound of hamburger.

Besides grilled burgers and queso dip, here is a list of other dishes that I make:

1. Tacos--1lb ground meat, a can of refried beans(or make your own), and 2 tbsp. of taco seasoning. Or instead of using bean in the meat I'll use a can of tomato soup.
   
2. Goulash--1lb ground meat, a can of tomato sauce, 1-2 tsp. chili powder, 1/2 tsp. yellow mustard, 2 cups of elbow macaroni.
   
3. Spaghetti--1 lb ground meat or meatballs and a jar of spaghetti sauce. I usually will add more spices(italian seasoning, garlic powder, and minced onions to the pot. Also instead of adding sugar to the pot, I add shredded carrots. I also put this in the crockpot and let it simmer all day!
   
4. Hamburger gravy--1lb ground meat, 1 can of cream of mushroom soup, 1-2 tsp. Worchestershire sauce, garlic powder, and minced onions. Mix all together. Serve over egg noodles or rice.
   
5. Chili--1lb ground meat, 1-150z can tomato sauce, 1 can tomato soup, 1 can red kidney beans, 2-3 tsp. chili powder, 1 tsp. garlic powder, minced onions. Mix all together. Simmer in crockpot all day.
   
6. Sloppy Joes--1 lb ground meat, 1 can tomato soup, 1-2 tsp. chili powder, 1 tsp. yellow mustard. Mix altogether. Simmer. Serve on hamburger buns. In my opinion, this is better than Manwich!
   
7. Meatloaf--1lb. ground beef (I usually use ground chuck or ground round which is like 86%-91% lean meat)
   1 egg
   1/4- 1/2 cup bread crumbs or crushed saltines or regular/quick oatmeal
   1 tsp. garlic powder
   2 TBSP. minced onion
   3-4 TBSP. ketchup
   1 TBSP bbq sauce
   1-2 tsp. yellow mustard
   1/2 green pepper, chopped(optional)
   1-2 medium size carrots, shredded(optional)
   
   Mix altogether. Form into mini meat loaves and stick on a cookie sheet lined with wax or parchment paper to "flash freeze". Once frozen, stick in a freezer bag and label!
   
   If you do not want to freeze them uncooked, place in a 9x13 pan and place in the oven at 350° for 30-40 minutes or until done. Let cool completely before freezing!
   
   Other notes: if the meat looks too wet add more bread crumbs/crushed saltines/oatmeal. This recipe makes tasty burger patties too! If you want to make an actual loaf, you can do that as well, I would let the loaf cool completely first then slice it into individual servings, wrap them and then stick in a freezer bag for later consumption.
   
8. Salisbury Steak--take the meatloaf recipe and instead of forming loaves I make patties. Cook the patties. Once cooked, add beef gravy. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Serve with mashed potatoes.

What are some dishes that you make with ground beef?  Have you found any ground beef on sale lately?

This post is linked to:

• Frugal Friday at Life As Mom!

My Redeemer Lives - Nicole C Mullen

My King is ALIVE!

Shopping Trip

This week's shopping trip was my major one for this pay period. I am actually so excited to share it with you because I got over $20 worth of groceries for FREE!  The items were either a "give me" when you bought so much of an item or free after a high value coupon.  I planned out my trip and I was actually pretty excited to be getting the free items. My free items for this trip were ketchup, baby formula, body wash, bagels and a gallon of milk.  The two ketchup bottles and baby formula were free after high value coupons.  Since I do not have any more babies, I am planning on donating the baby formula. The bagels was free with purchasing 3 lbs of I can't believe it's not butter.  The gallon of milk was free with 4 boxes of Kellogg's cereal. The body wash was free after using a buy two get one free coupon.

Along with the free items I also received a $5 off next shopping order coupon and $2 off next shopping order coupon! Those definitely will come in handy this coming up week to get milk, eggs, and produce in the house on the cheap.

Here is what I purchased this week:

Big Top Market(local store)

• 16lbs potatoes
• 2 lbs bacon
• 15.65 lbs boneless/skinless chicken breasts
• 7.80 lbs 85% ground beef

Total OOP: $56.62

Savings: $37.29

Duthler's Family Foods(local store)

• 2 bags wavy potato chips
• 2 bags Rold Gold pretzels
• 3-2 liters Faygo pop

Total OOP: $10.46

Savings: $5.25

Family Fare: 

• 3 bags frozen hash browns
• 3 boxes 9ct Bagel Bites
• 2-40 oz bottles Heinz Ketchup = FREE
• 3 lbs margarine sticks
• 3 pkgs Motts applesauce cups
• 2 lbs Land O Lakes Butter
• 2 bottles Miracle Whip
• 2 bottles Kraft Ranch Dressing
• 2 rolls Bob Evans Sausage
• 4 lbs strawberries
• 2.53 lbs bananas
• 1 bottle St. Ives body wash
• 1 Secret Deodorant (was $4.99 bought for $1.49!)
• 2 Speed Stick Deodorants

Total OOP: $51.70

Savings: $38.03

Meijer

• 3 bottles Suave body wash (1 bottle FREE)
• 1 pkg Lender's bagels = FREE
• 1 gallon Meijer milk = FREE
• 1/2 Hormel Ham
• 7.48 lbs turkey breast
• 2 pkgs Freshlike frozen corn
• 1 lb. shredded Kraft cheese
• 2 pks. Kraft Swiss 2% Singles
• 2 boxes Eggo Waffles
• 2 cans Reddi Whip
• 2 boxes Duncan Hines brownie Mix
• 4 lbs I Can't Believe It's Not Butter
• 2 pkgs Warm Delight Brownies
• 2 bags Tyson chicken nuggets
• 4 bags Nestle chocolate chips
• 1 bag Pepperidge goldfish grahams
• 6 tubes Pillsbury cinnamon rolls
• 6 tubes Pillsbury crescent rolls
• 4 boxes Kellogg's cereal
• 2 bags Easter M&Ms
• 2 bottles Similac Formula = FREE

Total OOP: $85.42

Savings: $75.37

Summary of the trip: 

Grand Total OOP: $204.20

Grand Total Savings: $155.94

Grand Total if using no coupons or sales: $360.14

This post is linked at: 

• Week-End Finales at The Frugal Freeloader!
• Shopping Brags Friday at Frugal Xchange!
• Super Savings Saturday at MoneySavingsMom!

Sunday's Coming

Shopping Trip

Lately, I have been working at just shopping the sales at the grocery stores. If there is not much in the sales worth getting I do not make a trip to all the stores. However, I will run into my corner grocery store, which happens to be Aldi's for milk.   Doing this kind of shopping is keeping my overall total per day for feeding my family of seven under $19/day!

Meijer: 

• 4 pks Danimal smoothies
• 4 containers Breakstone sour cream
• 20 cartons Yoplait single serve yogurt
• 2 bags Doritos
• 18 oz. Hillshire Farms deli meat

Total after sales & coupons: $22.63

Total Savings: $20.25

Family Fare: 

• 5 qt. vanilla ice cream
• 2 boxes Life Cinnamon cereal
• 2 bags Cheetos
• 2 bags Fritos
• 3-12 pks wild cherry Pepsi
• 6-2 liters Pepsi products
• 2 cans pizza sauce
• 2 heads lettuce

Total after coupons & bottle deposit: $43.02

Total Savings: $18.50

Duthler's

• 6.58 lbs ground beef from chuck
• 2.02 lbs beef cube steak
• 6 dozen eggs

Total: $28.97

Total Savings: $13.40

Aldi's

• 3 gallons milk

Total: $6.27

Total Savings with buying milk here rather than at another store : $3.60

Grand Total: $100.89

Grand Total Savings: $55.75

This post linked at: 

• Super Savings Saturday at MoneySavingMom!
• Week-End Finales at The Frugal Freeloader!
• Shopping Brags Friday at Frugal Xchange!
• Shopping Round Up at The Grocery Cart Challenge!

My Shopping Trip!

Last week, Meijer had a 10 for $10 get 11th item free sale, so I took advantage of it and bought the following items:

• 2 bottles Suave shampoo
• 2 boxes 150 ct. sandwich bags
• 6 boxes brown n serve sausage
• 2 boxes Betty crocker cake mix
• 4 tubes Grands biscuits
• 5 cups Easy Mac 
• 9 containers frozen Old Orchard juice
• 2 bottles Sunny Delight
• 1 can Meijer chocolate frosting
• 2 lbs baby carrots
• 5 Totinos frozen pizzas
• 5 Armour LunchMakers

After free items and coupons with tax for non-food items, my total for 45 items was: $36.78

Meijer also has a few other things on sale. I also picked up:

• 1 lb Argo cornstarch
• 3 bags Ore Ida frozen potatoes
• 4 boxes Gogurt
• 2 boxes Gortons frozen fish
• 4.37 lbs ground beef from round on Manager's markdown
• 2 pkgs Reese's peanut butter eggs (splurge item!)

Total for these items: $34.64

Grand Total at Meijer: $71.42

Total Savings at Meijer: $50.29

I also took the time to run into Family Fare so that I could use my coupon for a free gallon of milk along with a few other sale items.

• 2 boxes Post cereal 
• 2 boxes Banquet chicken nuggets
• 3-12pks Pepsi products
• 1 gallon of chocolate milk

Total with bottle deposit: $23.58

Total savings at Family Fare: $10.84

My trip into Aldi's was a quick one for some pantry basics that were out or low on my shelves.

• 3 gallons milk 
• 2 dozen eggs
• 6 cans beef broth
• 1 jar honey
• 4 cans cream of chicken soup

Total: $19.85

Grand Total: $114.85

Grand Total of Savings: $61.13 plus Aldi's!

Not bad considering that it was a shopping trip for 2 weeks worth of groceries since I skipped a shopping trip around the 1st of the month due to being on vacation (I shop around the 1st and 15th of the month due to hubby's pay).  I didn't need much in the way of meats this go around because of buying ahead and making menus from what I have in my stockpile before shopping.   This week's menu is totally working out of the pantry and freezer stockpile. Next week's grocery trip will be a bigger trip due to needing more meats.  Sorry no pictures this week, everything got put away so fast by my kids that I didn't have a chance to take them. 

This post is linked at: 

• Shopping Round Up at The Grocery Cart Challenge!

Menu Plan Monday 4/10-4/16

This week’s meals are simple and using what items I have in the freezer and pantry.   I am planning on only getting milk and eggs this week from the store.  I need to use up some of my stockpile items before they expire.  I also need to clear shelves in the freezer so that I can do a big shopping trip at the beginning of next week.

This week I am keeping my options open for two different nights.  Lately there has been one night a week that hubby has been working late and then going to a bible study group so the kids and I either hit up the leftovers or have something quick out of the freezer(ie chicken nuggets).  For this week, I have two nights where leftovers or something quick might have to be utilized due more to my lack of inspiration and not wanting similar type dishes several times during the week. 

This week’s lunches that are listed below are for the kids and me! Unless we are having leftovers, our lunches are served with apple slices or carrot sticks along with fruit juice or water.   Hubby and oldest son usually take a dinner leftover along with various snacks for their lunches so I don’t take the time to really plan their lunches. I just take the next container of leftovers in the stack in the fridge that I have prepared ahead of time.

A special thanks to Laura-Organizing Junkie for hosting Menu Plan Monday! Need help with your menus; go check the over 300 other delicious meal plans that have been linked at Laura-Organizing Junkie's site or look down in my right sidebar for my menu suggestion lists!

Sunday (4-10)

Breakfast: eggs, hash browns, sausage and chocolate donuts

Lunch: frozen pizzas and pizza rolls

Dinner:  grilled spicy chicken, egg noodles, corn and biscuits

Snack: snack basket

Monday (4-11)

Breakfast: cereal and cinnamon toast

Lunch: leftovers

Dinner:  thin sliced roast, mashed potatoes & gravy, green beans served with homemade bread

Snack: snack basket

Tuesday (4-12)

Breakfast:  waffles and sausage

Lunch: leftovers

Dinner:  oven fried chicken, fries and corn

Snack: snack basket

Wednesday (4-13)

Breakfast:  bagels and cereal

Lunch: sandwich & chips

Dinner: bacon burgers, seasoned pan fries, and carrots

Snack: snack basket

Thursday (4-14)

Breakfast: Pancakes and sausage

Lunch: leftovers

Dinner:  ????

Snack: snack basket                                                       

Friday (4-15)

Breakfast: cereal

Lunch: leftovers

Dinner:  creamy chicken over noodles, peas

Snack: snack basket

Saturday (4-16)

Breakfast:  Your Choice

Lunch: sandwiches & chips

Dinner: ?????

Snack: popcorn or snack basket

"Monster" Cookies

My kids love it when I make my basic chocolate chip cookie recipe but instead of just using chocolate chips add other "flavors" of chips like white chocolate and M&M's. When I do these kind of cookies they call them "Monster Cookies" because of all the goodies in them and the fact that I use my large Pampered Chef scoop rather than the small scoop.

Monster Cookies

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose white flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoon salt
2 cups (4 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips
2 cups M&Ms
2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:

Heat oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips, white chocolate, and M&Ms. Stir in nuts, if desired. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets(I use my large Pampered Chef scoop!).

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

PAN COOKIE VARIATION: Grease two 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan. Prepare dough as above. Spread into prepared pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan on wire rack.

Makes about 6 dozen cookies.

Notes: I have been known to split the dough in half and do half as a pan cookie/brownie and the other half as individual cookies.  When cooking the larger cookies it will take up to the 11 minutes to get the cookies to the golden brown state.

This post is linked to:

• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace!
• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!
• Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff!
• This Week's Cravings at Mom's Crazy Cooking

Nothing Without Christ

I heard this on the radio yesterday and it hit me that without Christ and His love for us to die on the cross for my sins, I would be NOTHING without Him!

Nothing Without Christ
by Eddie Carswell & Leonard Ahlstrom
Recorded by Newsong


I was like a blind man on a road that led nowhere
Just an empty-hearted beggar in desperate need of help
I was poor in spirit, but he was rich in love
I was down to nothin' when he came to lift me up
Now I will never let myself forget all he has done
How he came and rescued me and where he brought me from

Chorus:
I am nothing without Christ, he is everything to me
He's the reason that I live, he is my only need
I know I couldn't make it through
One day without Jesus in my life
I am nothing, nothing without Christ

There is nothing good in me that did not come from him
Nothing I could boast of that he did not give
From the moment I cried out to him to heal my troubled soul
He welcomed me with open arms, said all that's mine is yours

Now I will never let myself forget all he has done
How he came and rescued me and where he brought me from

I am nothing without Christ, he is everything to me
He's the reason that I live, he is my only need
I know I couldn't make it through
One day without Jesus in my life
I am nothing, nothing without Christ

Bridge:
Like a wave without a seashore or a kingdom with no king
Without Jesus in my life, I know I wouldn't be complete

I am nothing without Christ, he is everything to me
He's the reason that I live, he is my only need
I know I couldn't make it through
One day without Jesus in my life
I am nothing, nothing without Christ

I am nothing without Christ, he is everything to me
He's the reason that I live, he is my only need
I know I couldn't make it through
One day without Jesus in my life
I am nothing, nothing without Christ

Stronger by Mandisa

I heard this song on the radio this morning as her new single!!  The song is on Mandisa's new album coming out in April, 2011!

All I can say is...AMAZING!  It is amazing to me how the Lord loves to put different songs into my life at just the right time!  This song definitely spoke to me today!

Stronger
Artist: Mandisa
Album: What If We Were Real?

Hey, heard you were up all night
Thinking about how your world ain't right
And you wonder if things will ever get better
And you're asking why is it always raining on you
When all you want is just a little good news
Instead of standing there stuck out in the weather

Oh, don't hang your head
It's gonna end
God's right there
Even if it's hard to see Him
I promise you that He still cares

When the waves are taking you under
Hold on just a little bit longer
He knows that this is gonna make you stronger, stronger
The pain ain't gonna last forever
And things can only get better
Believe me
This is gonna make you stronger
Gonna make you stronger, stronger, stronger
Believe me, this is gonna make you ...

Try and do the best you can
Hold on and let Him hold your hand
And go on and fall into the arms of Jesus
Oh, lift your head it's gonna end
God's right there
Even when you just can't feel Him
I promise you that He still cares

'Cause if He started this work in your life
He will be faithful to complete it
If only you believe it
He knows how much it hurts
And I'm sure that He's gonna help you get through this

When the waves are taking you under
Hold on just a little bit longer
He knows that this is gonna make you stronger, stronger
The pain ain't gonna last forever
In time it's gonna get better
Believe me
This is gonna make you stronger

WFMW: What Doesn't Work for Me---Plastic containers in the freezer!!

I do a lot of batch cooking or once a month cooking and so that makes for needing lots of plastic containers being placed in my freezer on a regular basis. Well that was until recently when I found that they do not as good of a job as a ziploc bag!

I want to be environmentally friendly when it comes to putting the food in the freezer so I was working my way towards using all plastic containers and ridding my house of ziploc bags.  I have a variety of plastic containers from Tupperware to Rubbermaid to Ziploc brand containers.  I don't have much in the way of plastic containers but enough to use some in the fridge for those dinner leftovers to use for lunches the next few days and then the rest to use for my freezer cooking. The Rubbermaid plastic containers are a bit heavier of a plastic than the freezer containers so I thought it would help a bit with freezer burn and just overall easier to stack the same type of containers together in the freezer. However, when they get bumped and slide out of the freezer when I am getting something else out of the freezer and drop to the floor and crack it does not matter which type of plastic container I use in the freezer.

Since switching to containers from bags, I have dropped many plastic containers both the freezer type containers and the Rubbermaid/Tupperware containers!  Needless to say, I have had to pick up food that has scattered all over the floor more than once from the container dropping to the floor and cracking in the process!  Or I have found that a container was dropped and it wasn't realized that it had cracked a little bit and it put back in the freezer for me to find at a later date. I never had a problem with ziploc bags being dropped and splitting open with food going all over the place. Just so that I have covered all the bases, the contents in any of the plastic containers that I have put in the freezer have been totally cooled in the fridge before placing in the freezer.

I have come to the conclusion that plastic containers in the freezer just do not work for me! I need to switch back to all Ziploc bags for the freezer so that I do not end up breaking all of my plastic containers in the freezer and I can fit more ziploc bags into the freezer anyway!  Besides I need my plastic containers for leftovers in my fridge and for lunches. :)

This post is linked to:

• Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family!

Menu Plan Monday 1/2-1/8

I really have been doing menus over the last several months, but I haven’t taken the time to post them due to life getting busy on me and reducing my time spent on the computer.  Now that a new year has started, I am working very diligently to getting some resemblance of order and schedule in place so that a routine can be in place for the whole family.

Last week I did a big grocery shopping trip! I have been working at a new system of shopping over the last few months and the new system is working for our family!  My grocery shopping system is I shop the stores within the 5 mile radius of my house and make a trip to Sam's around the 15th and the last day of each month, which coincide with hubby’s paychecks.  The system allows me to cash in on the good deals and then have some time away from the stores so I am not burning myself out chasing deals every week.  I am finding this plan to be working very well!  I can get the good deals on the weeks I shop and get creative in the kitchen on the weeks where I just swing into Aldi for our weekly supply of 3 gallons of milk and 2 dozen eggs.

This week’s meals are simple and using what meat I had in the freezer and pantry items leftover from before my big grocery shopping trip.   We have had sickness in the house, so the menu might change to accommodate those who are on the mend.

This week’s lunches that are listed below are for the kids and me! Unless we are having leftovers, our lunches are served with apple slices or carrot sticks along with fruit juice or water.   Hubby and oldest son usually take a dinner leftover along with various snacks for their lunches so I don’t take the time to really plan their lunches. I just take the next container of leftovers in the stack in the fridge that I have prepared ahead of time.

A special thanks to Laura-Organizing Junkie for hosting Menu Plan Monday! Need help with your menus; go check the over 300 other delicious meal plans that have been linked at Laura-Organizing Junkie's site or look down in my right sidebar for my menu suggestion lists!

Sunday (1-2)

Breakfast: eggs, hash browns, sausage and cinnamon rolls

Lunch: mini pizzas and pizza rolls

Dinner:  creamy chicken over noodles, peas and crescent rolls

Snack: snack basket

Monday (1-3)

Breakfast: cereal and leftover cinnamon rolls

Lunch: leftovers

Dinner:  oven fried chicken, fries and corn

Snack: snack basket

Tuesday (1-4)

Breakfast:  waffles and sausage

Lunch: leftovers

Dinner:  spaghetti(from freezer), and garlic toast

Snack: snack basket

Wednesday (1-5)

Breakfast:  bagels and cereal

Lunch: sandwich & chips

Dinner: roasted chicken, mashed taters& gravy, corn and biscuits

Snack: snack basket

Thursday (1-6)

Breakfast: Pancakes and sausage

Lunch: leftovers

Dinner:  roast, carrots, and potatoes served with homemade bread

Snack: snack basket                                                       

Friday (1-7)

Breakfast: cereal

Lunch: leftovers

Dinner:  saucy pork chops, rice and green beans

Snack: snack basket

Saturday (1-8)

Breakfast:  Your Choice

Lunch: sandwiches & chips

Dinner: ????? not sure yet.

Snack: popcorn or snack basket