So my four year old munchkin has started using the term "Easy Peasy" to accurately describe something as easy or no big deal. Where does he come up with these? He is one of the funniest people I know. I probably did not spell Easy Peasy correctly but you know what? I do not particularly care. I usually do, a lot. There are some things in life that wriggle their way under my skin and drive me up the wall. A perfect example of this, one which many people can attest to, would be the incorrect use of "Their."
If you are referring to more than one person partaking in some action then "they are" becomes "they're." Please do not confuse this with the possessive "their." And of course who could forget "there" to describe where exactly something is among other uses. So, if we wanted to correctly make use of these words, we could say that....
They're leaving their dog out to bark all night over there in the backyard.
I'm sorry, I seem to have temporarily forgotten that this is a food and living blog, not a grammar blog! I will be the first to tell you that I do not have perfect grammar, definitely not. But there are some common misuses that drive me bonkers!
We went with simplicity last night for dinner. Chicken nuggets, corn, and broccoli with some Spanish rice for the munchkins as well. After dinner Prince Charming and I watched the Robert De Niro movie Everybody's Fine. I did not suspect that it would be such heavy emotional subject matter and I bawled my eyes out. Yes, I cried like a big baby, sniffling there on my couch while Prince Charming tried his best to hide his laughter at my total emotional breakdown brought on by ninety-nine minutes of cinema. The crying inevitably led to a headache, which generously decided to stay and keep me company through today. Arg. Be gone, headache, you are not wanted here!
We are already half way through Saturday and we still have yet to do anything. I need to hand my second Topsy Turvy Tomato planter. I bought another tomato plant to go in the planter that has been sitting on my kitchen counter. Sadly, I am not sure if my first tomato plant will make it but I am hopeful.
One of my Blueberry plants is growing quite nicely, though slowly, while the other has yet to leaf out at all but also shows no signs of disease or decay which is good I suppose. I want to make a little raised garden bed for another fuller Blueberry bush, using cinder blocks which are inexpensive. But prince Charming has some reservations about killing the grass. Oh well, we will see.
Love, Katie
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
What a week!
It has been very busy since I last updated my blog. We just got back from our friends' wedding and it was fabulous. I ate cake, which always makes me happy.
There was a lot of eating out while we were out of town, and I am not even going to dwell on it, because I knew it was going to happen and it did so now I can focus on cooking at home and eating healthier. Yay?
Yesterday I took a trip to the grocery store. I had both of the munchkins with me and they were doing their best to aggravate and irritate each other. It was fun. So in between the squishing and biting and patting and squealing I managed to grab a 4 lb carton of strawberries on the way into the produce section. I almost did not. I thought about grabbing some, and then thought that I would pass it by because I didn't want them going to waste and therefore wasting my money but one of the munchkins saw the ripe red strawberries and the battle was lost. happily, I can report that we somehow managed to eat probably 65% of them yesterday alone. So it looks like there will be no strawberries going to waste around here. I may have also decided to make chocolate fondue last night before bed. It may have been delicious.
So there I was in the grocery store with my little ziploc bag of coupons that I try to take with me when I leave the house. Before we left the car I had sorted through them and picked out the coupons I wanted to use that day. I needed milk among other things and I had coupons for both Horizons Organic and Organic Valley brand milk. Yay. We made our way around the store and I picked up most of the items I had coupons for, while deciding against several I had brought with me. They actually had the yogurt in stock that I wanted to try, with my coupon I printed off of the internet. If its good I need to get more. Yogurt is a staple around here.
I always leave the frozen section for last. I had a coupon for 55 cents off of ANY Red Baron brand product. I grabbed a frozen pizza, and noticed that the store had little individual pizzas, three to a tray. They were 89 cents each. Hm. There I was wishing I had more coupons for the Red Baron products when I remembered that the store had recently begun keeping coupons at the front of the store. I thought, what the heck, its worth a shot. I pushed my brawling children in the big blue Rocket Ship cart full of food back to the entrance, and scanned the coupons. I didn't see them. Darnnit. But then I noticed some fliers on the bottom of a two shelf unit. I picked one up and flipped to the inside, and there it was! My Red Baron coupon stared out at me, the lone coupon on the flier. I grabbed a few and made my way back to the frozen foods. And yes, there I stood trying to tear along the dotted lines hoping to neatly remove the coupons from the fliers. I folded, I pressed, I tore in straight lines. I bought nine packages of Red Baron Deep Dish Mini Pizzas for 34 cents each. Hello.
At checkout my bill rang up to $78, but after I handed over my mountain, er neat stack, of coupons I paid $52.00. Not bad considering the items I paid full price for. All said and done I am happy with the end results. Sometime this week I need to make a casserole bake. It will be one of my favorite childhood dishes, chicken and rice with cream of mushroom soup. Mmmm, yummy.
Thanks for hanging out with us!
Love, Katie
p.s. If you like it, share it!
There was a lot of eating out while we were out of town, and I am not even going to dwell on it, because I knew it was going to happen and it did so now I can focus on cooking at home and eating healthier. Yay?
Yesterday I took a trip to the grocery store. I had both of the munchkins with me and they were doing their best to aggravate and irritate each other. It was fun. So in between the squishing and biting and patting and squealing I managed to grab a 4 lb carton of strawberries on the way into the produce section. I almost did not. I thought about grabbing some, and then thought that I would pass it by because I didn't want them going to waste and therefore wasting my money but one of the munchkins saw the ripe red strawberries and the battle was lost. happily, I can report that we somehow managed to eat probably 65% of them yesterday alone. So it looks like there will be no strawberries going to waste around here. I may have also decided to make chocolate fondue last night before bed. It may have been delicious.
So there I was in the grocery store with my little ziploc bag of coupons that I try to take with me when I leave the house. Before we left the car I had sorted through them and picked out the coupons I wanted to use that day. I needed milk among other things and I had coupons for both Horizons Organic and Organic Valley brand milk. Yay. We made our way around the store and I picked up most of the items I had coupons for, while deciding against several I had brought with me. They actually had the yogurt in stock that I wanted to try, with my coupon I printed off of the internet. If its good I need to get more. Yogurt is a staple around here.
I always leave the frozen section for last. I had a coupon for 55 cents off of ANY Red Baron brand product. I grabbed a frozen pizza, and noticed that the store had little individual pizzas, three to a tray. They were 89 cents each. Hm. There I was wishing I had more coupons for the Red Baron products when I remembered that the store had recently begun keeping coupons at the front of the store. I thought, what the heck, its worth a shot. I pushed my brawling children in the big blue Rocket Ship cart full of food back to the entrance, and scanned the coupons. I didn't see them. Darnnit. But then I noticed some fliers on the bottom of a two shelf unit. I picked one up and flipped to the inside, and there it was! My Red Baron coupon stared out at me, the lone coupon on the flier. I grabbed a few and made my way back to the frozen foods. And yes, there I stood trying to tear along the dotted lines hoping to neatly remove the coupons from the fliers. I folded, I pressed, I tore in straight lines. I bought nine packages of Red Baron Deep Dish Mini Pizzas for 34 cents each. Hello.
At checkout my bill rang up to $78, but after I handed over my mountain, er neat stack, of coupons I paid $52.00. Not bad considering the items I paid full price for. All said and done I am happy with the end results. Sometime this week I need to make a casserole bake. It will be one of my favorite childhood dishes, chicken and rice with cream of mushroom soup. Mmmm, yummy.
Thanks for hanging out with us!
Love, Katie
p.s. If you like it, share it!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Destination Chili
Some of you might have already heard that I did make a nice big crock pot of Chili. I couldn't find some of the ingredients on the list, and there were others I wanted to add so the Chili I made was a hotter, meatier version of Ken's Chili. But man, I have got to tell you, it was great! Not only does it taste good but aside from the sodium, it is very nutritious. I threw in large amounts of chopped red, yellow, and green Bell Peppers, two chopped fresh Jalapeno Peppers, Paprika, Chili powder, one roll of ground Spicy Breakfast Sausage, one pound of extra lean ground beef, 1.5 cans of black beans, one can of dark red kidney beans since my store didn't have any other kind, and a few more tweaks on the recipe. But the end result was fantastic.
Last Thursday we went up to the Farmer's Market and I saw the hard work of the volunteers for the Flash Mob come together to create an amazing scene. Definitely not something I will forget any time soon. The Flash Mob "Dance" wound up to the finale where the dancer's removed their sweatshirts to reveal custom t-shirts. Each t-shirt had one letter on it, and the Flash Mob formation spelled out a very sweet marriage proposal. The Proposer wore a t-shirt with a large question mark emblazoned on it. Luckily for all, mostly for the guy who put his heart on the line, she said yes.
The dog is once again in trouble. He is currently pouting from his kennel where he will stay for the rest of today. I came home from running errands to find that he had carefully chosen one can or Infant Formula, from amongst four in a shopping bag on the counter, carried it into the library area off of the kitchen, removed the plastic lid and found that the metal top was still on the container since it was brand new and unopened. So what did he do you ask? Did he decide to leave it alone? Walk away? My dog? Not a chance. After all his careful work he tips it onto its side and tears a hole in it. Then he ate it. He ate half a container of Infant Formula. he even had the mark of guilt on him when I got home, in the form of caked on powered formula on his black little doggy nose. Bad Dog!
I will make sure to post the actual recipe for Chili, at least as close as I can get to it, as soon as I can. It made quite a lot and has been very tasty. Probably one of the less expensive meal options out there.
Love, Katie
**UPDATE**
Katie's Chili Recipe
1.25 lbs extra lean ground turkey
1.25 lbs 93% to 96% lean ground beef
1 roll of ground spicy breakfast sausage (such as jimmy Dean)
1.5 cans black beans (organic)
1 can dark red kidney beans (reduced sodium)
2 cups chicken broth (low sodium, organic)
1 small red onion, diced
1 lb 12 oz diced tomatoes (organic)
1 can Campbells Select Harvest Zesty Tomato Bisque soup 18.7 oz
1 can Campbells Healthy Request Tomato soup 10 3/4 oz
1 chopped red bell pepper
1 chopped yellow bell pepper
1 chopped green bell pepper
2 cups chopped celery
2 fresh Jalapeño Peppers, chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tbs black pepper
1 1/2 tbs chili powder
2 tsp Paprika
2 tbs fajita seasoning
Last Thursday we went up to the Farmer's Market and I saw the hard work of the volunteers for the Flash Mob come together to create an amazing scene. Definitely not something I will forget any time soon. The Flash Mob "Dance" wound up to the finale where the dancer's removed their sweatshirts to reveal custom t-shirts. Each t-shirt had one letter on it, and the Flash Mob formation spelled out a very sweet marriage proposal. The Proposer wore a t-shirt with a large question mark emblazoned on it. Luckily for all, mostly for the guy who put his heart on the line, she said yes.
The dog is once again in trouble. He is currently pouting from his kennel where he will stay for the rest of today. I came home from running errands to find that he had carefully chosen one can or Infant Formula, from amongst four in a shopping bag on the counter, carried it into the library area off of the kitchen, removed the plastic lid and found that the metal top was still on the container since it was brand new and unopened. So what did he do you ask? Did he decide to leave it alone? Walk away? My dog? Not a chance. After all his careful work he tips it onto its side and tears a hole in it. Then he ate it. He ate half a container of Infant Formula. he even had the mark of guilt on him when I got home, in the form of caked on powered formula on his black little doggy nose. Bad Dog!
I will make sure to post the actual recipe for Chili, at least as close as I can get to it, as soon as I can. It made quite a lot and has been very tasty. Probably one of the less expensive meal options out there.
Love, Katie
**UPDATE**
Katie's Chili Recipe
1.25 lbs extra lean ground turkey
1.25 lbs 93% to 96% lean ground beef
1 roll of ground spicy breakfast sausage (such as jimmy Dean)
1.5 cans black beans (organic)
1 can dark red kidney beans (reduced sodium)
2 cups chicken broth (low sodium, organic)
1 small red onion, diced
1 lb 12 oz diced tomatoes (organic)
1 can Campbells Select Harvest Zesty Tomato Bisque soup 18.7 oz
1 can Campbells Healthy Request Tomato soup 10 3/4 oz
1 chopped red bell pepper
1 chopped yellow bell pepper
1 chopped green bell pepper
2 cups chopped celery
2 fresh Jalapeño Peppers, chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tbs black pepper
1 1/2 tbs chili powder
2 tsp Paprika
2 tbs fajita seasoning
Pour the chicken broth, tomato soup, and both cans of beans into a large soup pot, crock pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Bring to a light simmer.
In another pan, saute the red onion, and bell peppers with a light coating of extra virgin olive oil for about 5 minutes, or until they soften. Stir in the celery and Jalapeño peppers and saute for an additional 2 minutes.
Add the sauteed vegetables to the broth and beans mixture. Using the same pan, brown the lean ground turkey, ground beef, and sausage, and drain the fat from the pan. Stir the drained meat into the rest of the mixture and add the spices.
Add the sauteed vegetables to the broth and beans mixture. Using the same pan, brown the lean ground turkey, ground beef, and sausage, and drain the fat from the pan. Stir the drained meat into the rest of the mixture and add the spices.
Simmer the mixture on low heat for a minimum of 90 minutes, covered. Uncover and simmer for an additional 30 minutes, or until chili is thickened as desired.
** ( I just tossed mine in the slow Cooker for 4 hours while I went on about my day! Can't get easier than that.)**
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Ken's Chili recipe from last nights The Biggest Loser
I have to admit it, I faithfully watch The Biggest Loser on TV every week. I have never watched the show before this season but I have seen every episode of this season and feel a connection with the contestants at this point. I cheer for their victories and commiserate their sorrows. Watching people who have wandered so far from the path of a healthy lifestyle fight their way back is immensely inspirational to me and keeps me motivated to work out when I really, really, do not want to. This week the Red Team's cook was Ken and he made a Chili for his team that I thought would be a great idea, something I could throw in the slow cooker. Many of the ingredients are organic, but since they are already super inexpensive buying organic only adds a few cents to each item. I grabbed this off of an internet search. I intend to cook up a batch soon. Hope you enjoy!
I want to hear how your Chili turns out if you decide to make it!
Love, Katie
Nutritional Info is a 1 cup serving with approximately 150 calories a serving.
Ken's Chili Recipe
1.25 lbs extra lean ground turkey
1 can black beans (no salt, organic)
1 can white kidney beans (no salt, organic)
2 cups chicken broth (low sodium, organic)
2 cups chopped red onions
2 cans organic, no salt added tomato soup
3 cups chopped bell pepper
2 cups chopped celery
1 can chipotle peppers
1 tsp salt
2 tbs minced garlic
1 tbs black pepper
1 tbs chili powder
2 tbs fajita seasoning
1 can black beans (no salt, organic)
1 can white kidney beans (no salt, organic)
2 cups chicken broth (low sodium, organic)
2 cups chopped red onions
2 cans organic, no salt added tomato soup
3 cups chopped bell pepper
2 cups chopped celery
1 can chipotle peppers
1 tsp salt
2 tbs minced garlic
1 tbs black pepper
1 tbs chili powder
2 tbs fajita seasoning
Pour the chicken broth, tomato soup, and both cans of beans into a large soup pot, crock pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Bring to a light simmer.
In another pan, saute the red onion, garlic and bell pepper with a light coating of cooking spray for about 5 minutes, or until they soften. Stir in the celery and chipotle peppers and saute for an additional 2 minutes.
Add the sauteed vegetables to the broth and beans mixture. Using the same pan, brown the lean ground turkey, and drain the fat from the pan. Stir the drained meat into the rest of the mixture and add the spices.
Simmer the mixture on low heat for a minimum of 90 minutes, covered. Uncover and simmer for an additional 30 minutes, or until chili is thickened as desired.
I want to hear how your Chili turns out if you decide to make it!
Love, Katie
Monday, March 7, 2011
Anyone else feel stifled?
So I have discovered that the hardest part of this 30 Day Challenge is finding different ways to have fun and destress then going out for dinner or stopping by a fast food restaurant when I am hungry and running behind. Sometimes I feel myself starting to get that subtle trapped feeling, like I am stuck at home staring at the walls with nothing to do. I could clean, but really those of you who know me that cleaning is never going to be at the top of my "For Fun" list, I could watch TV but that just intensifies the feeling of Cabin Fever, I could go for a walk but the weather has been so hit or miss around here lately that the odds are good of getting rained on or blown away by the wind.
I made a really great pizza the other day. It was the second one in the pack I bought at the grocery store here on base. I topped it with some Water Chestnuts, diced and chopped Red Bell Peppers, some Stewed Tomatoes, a lot of Oregano, and a handful of spicy ground Breakfast Sausage. Mmm, good. Red Bell Peppers are amazingly good for you so I like finding different ways to incorporate them into my diet. I am hoping to grow some of my own this year. Sadly, my Tomato plant looks like it has picked up a mold or fungus on the leaves, I am not sure how this will play out.
Prince Charming is home from work and we are going to go to Costco and Babies R us. Why? I am not sure but do I really care? It means I am getting out of the house! (Imaginary fist pump in the air.) Well it is time to pack the family up and hit the road.
Love, Katie
I made a really great pizza the other day. It was the second one in the pack I bought at the grocery store here on base. I topped it with some Water Chestnuts, diced and chopped Red Bell Peppers, some Stewed Tomatoes, a lot of Oregano, and a handful of spicy ground Breakfast Sausage. Mmm, good. Red Bell Peppers are amazingly good for you so I like finding different ways to incorporate them into my diet. I am hoping to grow some of my own this year. Sadly, my Tomato plant looks like it has picked up a mold or fungus on the leaves, I am not sure how this will play out.
Prince Charming is home from work and we are going to go to Costco and Babies R us. Why? I am not sure but do I really care? It means I am getting out of the house! (Imaginary fist pump in the air.) Well it is time to pack the family up and hit the road.
Love, Katie
Sunday, March 6, 2011
BOGO @ Chipotle :-)
Lets see, where shall I start? I have done exceptionally well with not eating out, and avoiding snacks while out and about. The same cannot necessarily be said for everyone. So far $60 was taken out in cash, some of which went toward food and beverages for Prince Charming on Friday night. Saturday he had the kids while I attended my Reserve weekend for the month. However, he also had practice for a Flash Mob that he is participating in next weekend. I'm actually very excited to go see it, and plan on taking the video camera with me! They have been practicing with a choreographer and it should be entertaining to watch. Someone has put a lot of thought and effort into a very creative wedding proposal, and after all this work I hope she says yes. Prince Charming bribed the Preschooler with McDonald's on the way to the Flash Mob practice. So on Saturday we spent $14.73 on fast food, then as a reward for his fantastic behavior we surprised our little Munchkin with frozen yogurt (which was completely delicious by the way. They had a Red Velvet flavor and it really truly did taste like Red Velvet cake. Mmmm.) That cost us $10.58 for the whole family (this also came out of Prince Charming's $60.) Tonight, Sunday, Prince Charming wanted to go check out the location of the Flash Mob, since all the practices have been held at an alternate location. He also wanted to "check out" the Chipotle restaurant that happened to be half a block away. Hmm. Well, I did just say last week that I missed Chipotle since we moved to a Chipotle-free city. I found a Buy One Get One Free coupon for Chipotle so after two Burritos, one soft drink, and a children's Quesadilla our $20 bill became $12.56. Two thirds of my Chicken Burrito came home with me and is sitting, biding its time, in the refrigerator. So that about sums up where we are at. I'm tired and sore and in need of a Chiropractor, or a really good Masseuse.
The weather has been gloomy and dull with gray overcast skies. Poor Axe wants to snuggle in our bed all the time but is still on the bad dog list after his mid-night snacking from the fruit bowl. He has been even more affectionate and loving than usual, probably because he is still recovering from being in trouble and needs a little extra reassurance that we still love him. I am still mad that he ate the whole darn Sweet Potato...and the Mango.
We thawed a bag of frozen Chicken breasts in the refrigerator, the only problem being that apparently there was a hole somewhere on the bag so when the Chicken eventually thawed out, we were left with an inch of gross Chicken juice in the refrigerator drawer. YUCK! Needless to say I got the privilege of draining it, deskinning the chicken, and rinsing them so Prince Charming could grill them up. Then I had to clean the entire kitchen with Bleach to make sure that I was not going to be cross contaminating things with E coli and Salmonella. We have had enough seasonal sicknesses around here, food borne illness is not one I want to add to the list. At the end of the day we had some terrific Barbecue Chicken, and a very clean kitchen. Right now it is all about keeping the kids healthy, because when one of the boys gets sick, Everyone gets sick.
It is definitely time for sleep, my eyelids are heavy already.
Love, Katie
The weather has been gloomy and dull with gray overcast skies. Poor Axe wants to snuggle in our bed all the time but is still on the bad dog list after his mid-night snacking from the fruit bowl. He has been even more affectionate and loving than usual, probably because he is still recovering from being in trouble and needs a little extra reassurance that we still love him. I am still mad that he ate the whole darn Sweet Potato...and the Mango.
We thawed a bag of frozen Chicken breasts in the refrigerator, the only problem being that apparently there was a hole somewhere on the bag so when the Chicken eventually thawed out, we were left with an inch of gross Chicken juice in the refrigerator drawer. YUCK! Needless to say I got the privilege of draining it, deskinning the chicken, and rinsing them so Prince Charming could grill them up. Then I had to clean the entire kitchen with Bleach to make sure that I was not going to be cross contaminating things with E coli and Salmonella. We have had enough seasonal sicknesses around here, food borne illness is not one I want to add to the list. At the end of the day we had some terrific Barbecue Chicken, and a very clean kitchen. Right now it is all about keeping the kids healthy, because when one of the boys gets sick, Everyone gets sick.
It is definitely time for sleep, my eyelids are heavy already.
Love, Katie
Friday, March 4, 2011
I used my coupons
Well here is my update. I took my coupons to Kmart yesterday because they were having a Double Coupon special this week. Apparently the Kmart here is very small and since most of my coupons were for groceries there were only a few I found. However I did find many of the non-grocery items on my list. Normally it would not have been worth it to buy from Kmart but the coupons brought the price down to being comparable to what I would spend for the items at the grocery store on base, and when doubled it was a good deal. Plus I had to drive into town to pick up an order from another store so the additional cost of the drive into town was negligible.
My items before tax came to a total of $44.00 and after coupons and taxes I paid $27.44 and received a $4.00 off coupon for my next purchase totaling $40 or more. Something to keep in mind if they are having a sale on home goods and I am going to be in town anyway. All said and done, it was totally worth it.
My husband, lets call him Prince Charming, had requested I bring pizza home with me. The last thing I wanted to do was drag my tired children out of the car and into a large, noisy, grocery store in town. I spent 10 minutes fiddling with my GPS trying to locate the Papa Murphy's take and bake pizza place I knew was somewhere very close to where I was in town. Ultimately my GPS failed me, saying the closest Papa Murphy's in the database was 112 miles away. Really? Ugh. I drove until I got to the intersection where I knew the store was, I just could not remember which one of the four corners it was on and you cannot see it from the street. I pulled into the left hand turn lane and sitting at the red light, I called Prince Charming to ask him where the store was. No need to fear, my car has integrated Bluetooth so I was totally hands free...and sitting at a red light. Luckily, Prince Charming has a near photographic memory ( irritates me to no end) and I did need to turn left. I navigated my way through the shopping maze to the Papa Murphy's storefront. I got out, unbuckled the kids, and walked up to the door only to find a hand written sign saying that Papa Murphy's would be closed until further notice! For crying out loud. I took the kids back to the car, buckled them up again, and called Prince Charming. Yes, he still wanted pizza. Surely I could find a pizza place and get one for take-out. At this point I am tired, the baby is tired, and I really do not feel like tracking down another pizza place, taking the kids in, placing an order and waiting for a pizza to go. Ultimately I made the executive decision to go home and stop by the grocery store on base and pick up a pizza from the refrigerated section. And hey, while I am there I will grab some groceries that I have coupons for. Look at that, more multi-tasking and now I am using the coupons that I could not use at Kmart.
Not only did they have almost all of the groceries I wanted, except the fat free Horizon's milk and most of the other dairy products on my list, but they had some in store coupons that were better than the ones I brought with me. Yay. My savings at the grocery store was not as impressive as at Kmart, but save I did. Before coupons my total for groceries was $59.73, and after I scanned my coupons I paid $49.73. It may have only been $10.00 but it was $10.00 I did not have to pay. I consider that a victory.
Now if I can just find people interested in swapping coupons I will be very happy. Thanks for swinging by, and have a fantastic day!
Love, Katie
My items before tax came to a total of $44.00 and after coupons and taxes I paid $27.44 and received a $4.00 off coupon for my next purchase totaling $40 or more. Something to keep in mind if they are having a sale on home goods and I am going to be in town anyway. All said and done, it was totally worth it.
My husband, lets call him Prince Charming, had requested I bring pizza home with me. The last thing I wanted to do was drag my tired children out of the car and into a large, noisy, grocery store in town. I spent 10 minutes fiddling with my GPS trying to locate the Papa Murphy's take and bake pizza place I knew was somewhere very close to where I was in town. Ultimately my GPS failed me, saying the closest Papa Murphy's in the database was 112 miles away. Really? Ugh. I drove until I got to the intersection where I knew the store was, I just could not remember which one of the four corners it was on and you cannot see it from the street. I pulled into the left hand turn lane and sitting at the red light, I called Prince Charming to ask him where the store was. No need to fear, my car has integrated Bluetooth so I was totally hands free...and sitting at a red light. Luckily, Prince Charming has a near photographic memory ( irritates me to no end) and I did need to turn left. I navigated my way through the shopping maze to the Papa Murphy's storefront. I got out, unbuckled the kids, and walked up to the door only to find a hand written sign saying that Papa Murphy's would be closed until further notice! For crying out loud. I took the kids back to the car, buckled them up again, and called Prince Charming. Yes, he still wanted pizza. Surely I could find a pizza place and get one for take-out. At this point I am tired, the baby is tired, and I really do not feel like tracking down another pizza place, taking the kids in, placing an order and waiting for a pizza to go. Ultimately I made the executive decision to go home and stop by the grocery store on base and pick up a pizza from the refrigerated section. And hey, while I am there I will grab some groceries that I have coupons for. Look at that, more multi-tasking and now I am using the coupons that I could not use at Kmart.
Not only did they have almost all of the groceries I wanted, except the fat free Horizon's milk and most of the other dairy products on my list, but they had some in store coupons that were better than the ones I brought with me. Yay. My savings at the grocery store was not as impressive as at Kmart, but save I did. Before coupons my total for groceries was $59.73, and after I scanned my coupons I paid $49.73. It may have only been $10.00 but it was $10.00 I did not have to pay. I consider that a victory.
Now if I can just find people interested in swapping coupons I will be very happy. Thanks for swinging by, and have a fantastic day!
Love, Katie
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Lets try this coupon thing
So I printed out my coupons from online, and I am heading into town to give this a shot. I am currently cutting out the coupons and sorting them into categories for easy access during shopping. Apparently a local store is having a Double Coupon deal this week. I will be sure to let you know how it goes. Fingers crossed!
Love, Katie
Love, Katie
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Ugh...coupons
I've been doing research online and it looks like all the grocery stores in this state have stopped doubling coupons. Of course first I would have to actually have coupons I want to use for this to matter, but still it would be nice to double up. If you can find an item on sale that you have a coupon for odds are you will pay little to nothing for it. Take for example your typical box of cereal. If the cereal is usually $3.75 but is on sale for $3.00 and you have a coupon for $1.50 off (which is the discount I do see quite often on cereal) and your store doubles coupons, that means that you pay absolutely nothing, nada, zip for that cereal. Same goes for toothpaste and deodorant, which you can usually get for free with coupons. Now if I could find a coupon swap group or a website that doesn't insist on installing "spyware" coupon printing software on my computer to print their coupons I will be happy. Any ideas out there?
love, Katie
love, Katie
Really Dog?
So we are two days into our "30 day challenge" and we have been doing well. Yesterday we ate leftovers from earlier this week, and I made chicken sandwiches for my husband from the left over barbecued chicken from our son's first birthday party. So we have done really well so far at not spending money eating out (Though I do have winning peal off tickets for sandwiches from a major food chain. Free is good. Free means not spending money eating out.)
We discovered a traitor in our midst yesterday morning when we woke up. Apparently our dog, Axe, decided he needed a snack during the night and couldn't wait for his morning meal. Axe took not only the Mango I had just brought home from the grocery store that day, but the Sweet Potato as well. He demolished them, leaving the hard center of the Mango and small chunks of Sweet Potato scattered across the living room floor. Really?! To be honest I'm just glad he didn't snatch the bunch of Bananas and tear into them leaving only the peels behind...yes, I am speaking from experience. He has also been known to unscrew the lids of jars of Peanut Butter and even the Protein powder a house guest had left on the counter. Let me tell you Protein powder is not good for your floors or your dog! And you can forget about leaving snacks in your backpack. In all seriousness, Axe does know how to unzip a zipper, leaving zero damage to the backpack or zipper, and then he will devour the edible, and sometimes inedible contents. He has eaten batteries, prescription medication that was in the bottom of a box after we moved years ago when he was puppy, and even a telephone. He will snatch the baby's diapers if we are not careful. Sometimes he is just a bad, bad dog! So now I am down a Mango and a Sweet Potato.
But there is good news! My strawberry plants are doing well, even some of the ones that I thought were dead started sprouting new little green heads. My Tomato plant seems to be hanging in there (quite literally since it is in one of those Topsy Turvy hanging grow bags.) And both the Raspberries and Blueberries seem to be hanging in there. I have some herbs to plant in my cute pots that made the move with us, and I bought some seeds to plant with my four year old son. I just need to figure out how to grow some of these plants in containers. We do have a nasty mud patch next to our back porch where the previous tenants had apparently put down some square outdoor tiles, but only a couple are still there leaving a grass-less area which turns into a disaster when it rains. Maybe I can talk my special someone into building a little raised garden bed there.
So far, so good. We have an out of town wedding to go to in two and a half weeks, so I need to figure out a plan for that time. But I know we will have a great time, and I promise myself that I will keep track of what we spend! "Healthy choices, healthy choices, healthy choices..." is going to be my inner voice reminding me this month of what we need to do. Thank you for spending some times with us!
love, Katie
We discovered a traitor in our midst yesterday morning when we woke up. Apparently our dog, Axe, decided he needed a snack during the night and couldn't wait for his morning meal. Axe took not only the Mango I had just brought home from the grocery store that day, but the Sweet Potato as well. He demolished them, leaving the hard center of the Mango and small chunks of Sweet Potato scattered across the living room floor. Really?! To be honest I'm just glad he didn't snatch the bunch of Bananas and tear into them leaving only the peels behind...yes, I am speaking from experience. He has also been known to unscrew the lids of jars of Peanut Butter and even the Protein powder a house guest had left on the counter. Let me tell you Protein powder is not good for your floors or your dog! And you can forget about leaving snacks in your backpack. In all seriousness, Axe does know how to unzip a zipper, leaving zero damage to the backpack or zipper, and then he will devour the edible, and sometimes inedible contents. He has eaten batteries, prescription medication that was in the bottom of a box after we moved years ago when he was puppy, and even a telephone. He will snatch the baby's diapers if we are not careful. Sometimes he is just a bad, bad dog! So now I am down a Mango and a Sweet Potato.
But there is good news! My strawberry plants are doing well, even some of the ones that I thought were dead started sprouting new little green heads. My Tomato plant seems to be hanging in there (quite literally since it is in one of those Topsy Turvy hanging grow bags.) And both the Raspberries and Blueberries seem to be hanging in there. I have some herbs to plant in my cute pots that made the move with us, and I bought some seeds to plant with my four year old son. I just need to figure out how to grow some of these plants in containers. We do have a nasty mud patch next to our back porch where the previous tenants had apparently put down some square outdoor tiles, but only a couple are still there leaving a grass-less area which turns into a disaster when it rains. Maybe I can talk my special someone into building a little raised garden bed there.
So far, so good. We have an out of town wedding to go to in two and a half weeks, so I need to figure out a plan for that time. But I know we will have a great time, and I promise myself that I will keep track of what we spend! "Healthy choices, healthy choices, healthy choices..." is going to be my inner voice reminding me this month of what we need to do. Thank you for spending some times with us!
love, Katie
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