Monthly Archive for August, 2008

In the Kitchen

Published
by
Cara
on August 28, 2008
in Cooking
. 4 Comments

I have spent almost two whole days in the kitchen (which translates into–no time for blogging). This isn’t a bad thing…have I ever mentioned that I love to cook?!

The Lord was very kind to give me this time to prepare our food; especially since all the apples and peaches were very generously given to us.

This adventure all started out with one of these:

Well, maybe more than one:

After ALOT of cleaning and peeling and “smooshing” we had:

Applesauce!!!

From some of the applesauce I made apple butter; sorry to disappoint though, I did not get a picture of that…yet. :) I also kept all the apple peels and hope to make Apple Peel Jelly, an idea I saw on Bethany’s site, Happy to be Called Mommy. A friend and I also peeled and sliced a bunch of apples! This was REALLY fun when you have one of those handy apple peelers. I felt more like I was playing rather than working. (Don’t tell the kids. Although they are pretty smart, I think they may have already figured it out:  Mommy was playing with her food! :) ) Some of the sliced apples went to the freezer for pies and cobblers and some got canned in syrup. Yum!

Another end result was:

Pies!!!

I made two apple pies and two peach and blueberry pies. I can not wait to sink my teeth into these, but I will have to, these are going in the freezer for another day.

I am not done yet! I also baked two loaves of bread, a batch of muffins, cookies and still had to make lunch and dinner! Every minute of it was worth it though, and now…I get two days out of the kitchen–we are going out of town (which will also translate into–no time for blogging).

What have you been up to in your kitchen? Leave a comment, I would love to hear about it!

What’s For Lunch? 8/27 – 9/2

Published
by
Cara
on August 27, 2008
in Cooking and Homemaking
. 2 Comments

Views: 1,226 Downloads: 461 Added: 29.05.06 2400x1600 (255.6 KB)

I am keeping it pretty simple this week.  We will be going out of town for a couple of days, so less cooking for me! Not that I am complaining about cooking, cause I love to do it; especially experimenting with new recipes.
If you are interested in any of these recipes let me know and I will try to post them when I have some time available.

Wednesday:  Spaghetti w/meat sauce, fresh green beans, fruit cocktail

Thursday:  Soy sauce pork roast, brown rice, salad, fruit pizza

Friday:  Out of town

Saturday: Out of town

Sunday: 5th Sunday meal at our church, I will be bringing Lentil Rice Casserole and Homemade bread

Monday:  Fried pork chops, mac & cheese, brussel sprouts, homemade applesauce

Tuesday: Lunch meat sandwiches, chips, vege platter

Apple Market 8/27 – 9/2

Published
by
Cara
on August 27, 2008
in Apple Market
. 0 Comments

Good Morning!

Here are the Apple Market deals for this week.

  • bananas 39¢ lb. Tuesday only!
  • Olathe sweet corn 8/$1.98 (24¢ ea.)
  • cantaloupe 2/$4
  • Lay’s potato chips, selected varieties $1.88
  • Kraft dressing, selected varieties $1.78, use FREE coupon from Kraft Food & Family Mag; or Kraft salad dressing, 16 oz FREE (max $3.20) WYB (3) Kraft/Nabisco/Oscar Mayer products (excludes single serve)
  • KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce 98¢
  • Gatorade or Propel 23.7-32 oz., selected varieties 10/$10
  • Bar S Jumbo franks 68¢ ea., use 25¢ off Q That would make these 18¢ a package!
  • family pack, Pilgrim’s Pride leg quarters 68¢ lb., use 55¢ off Q
  • Johnsonville sausage $2.48
  • pork spare ribs $1.28lb.
  • Little Debbie snacks 10/$10, use 25¢ off Q
  • red or black plums 99¢lb.
  • 2lb. Colorado carrots 99¢ ea.
  • bunch broccoli 2/$3
  • green cabbage 49¢lb.
  • 10lb. bag Best Choice Russet potatoes $3.99

Make sure you check out The Grocery Weekly for this weeks deals at Hy-Vee and Dillons.

Tuesday’s CVS Run

Published
by
Cara
on August 27, 2008
in CVS
. 0 Comments

Sorry, but no run for me this week. Life is too busy; in a good way!

But that doesn’t mean there are not deals to be had there this week. Stop by to see Denise’s list on Centsible Sawyer. She does an excellent job with coupons match ups and there are lots of different scenarios listed through links gathered there.

Lazy Susans

Published
by
Cara
on August 26, 2008
in Homemaking
. 1 Comment

What do you do with all those spices cluttering up your kitchen cabinet?

Put a couple of Lazy Susans to work:

I love using Lazy Susans to organize and gather like items! This cabinet is one of those cabinets that fits into a corner of your wall, it is so hard to fit items in it and still be able to get to the back easily. The Lazy Susan is great because you can turn it and still reach the spices in the back without having to remove half of them or dumping them all around, making a big mess.

For more kitchen tips, make sure you stop by Tammy’s Recipes and see what others are doing in their kitchen to make life easier!

Happenings at Michaels

Published
by
Cara
on August 25, 2008
in Shopping
. 1 Comment

Just wanted to update all you bargain shoppers, in the Topeka, KS area, with the latest find…shoes!

Thanks to my friend Elissa, I found pairs of shoes at Michaels today for 79¢ each!
The shoes are sitting in a basket right outside on the sidewalk in front of the store. The only sizes I noticed left were mostly 5,6,7 and one pair of 9’s. You can find them in black and white only now.

Here is a picture so you can see if you even want to bother with them:

These are cute all by themselves, but they also display an idea on how to embellish them to give the shoes your own personal style.

Also, I noticed that they are going to be having a free, Doll Craft Creations event on Saturday, September 20, 2008 from 10am – 2pm. Bring your daughters along to make a “Pretty Posy Doll Tee” and “Designer Doll Bag” for their American Girl dolls.

If you are into cake decorating, all the cake decorating classes are 50% off for the month of September! You will have to go to your nearest Michaels to get details on the class schedules.

Another neat thing I came across today is their area of $1 items. There are several nice items that would make cheap frugal gifts. If you come across a 40% off one regular priced item coupon in their ad, you can make the item only 60¢! I picked up a package of 8 note cards and envelopes today using this idea. There are lots of items to choose from like stamps, memo pads, cards, little bags, and much more.

If You Have to Shop at Walmart…

Published
by
Cara
on August 22, 2008
in Shopping and freebies
. 1 Comment

You might as well get something free!

My husband was in need of some more pants for work, and the best place to get these is at Walmart. Yikes!
Since I had to go, I figured that I would make my trip worth while. I headed over to Be Centsable to check out The Grocery Gathering post. You can click on Walmart there to see what the latest deals are, as well as, coupon match ups to the items on sale!

I did a quick scan for free items; and here is what I was able to get free:

  • 2 packages of Kotex
  • 7 WellPatches
  • 1 travel size bottle of Gold Bond body powder

I actually got 21¢ overage too, so that went towards the pants. That put a smile on my face!

Notice Anything Different?

Published
by
Cara
on August 22, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 4 Comments

I got a new look!

The Lord has been so kind to allow David over at Fluttering Carefully to help me out with this blogging stuff. David was the one who encouraged me to even start this blog in the first place!  I appreciate all the time and effort he has put forward on MY project. He has been very gracious and patient with me–a hard task I am sure.  :)

Simply put:  THANKS DAVID!!!!

Another Walgreen’s Coupon

Published
by
Cara
on August 21, 2008
in Walgreen's
. 2 Comments

Walgreen’s is offering another $5 off of a $20 purchase coupon!

This time you have two days to use it, August 22 & 23!
If you haven’t already bought your free-after-rebate items, that might be a good start. Keep in mind, your final total has to be $20 after all coupons and before taxes. I am not sure what would be the best scenario to use this with, so if you got any ideas, pass them along!

You might want to check out Hot Coupon World’s thread on Walgreens for other ideas–that is where I am headed ;) .

*** Update: I found quite a few scenario ideas at A Full Cup in this thread. Hope that helps. I am thinking I will be passing on this one, unless I come across something really good. I have already bought all the FAR items for this month! :(

Southwestern Baked Beans (w/Chicken)

Published
by
Cara
on August 21, 2008
in Cooking
. 3 Comments

  • 2 cans (16oz. ea.) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 can (16½ oz) great northern beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 can (150z) black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 2 cans (14½ oz. ea.) Italian stewed tomatoes, drained and chopped
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 to 4 c. chopped, cooked chicken (optional)
  • ¼ c. packed brown sugar
  • ¼ c. cider vinegar
  • 2 T. honey
  • 2 t. dried oregano
  • 2 t. ground cumin
  • 2 t. ground mustard
  • 1-½ t. ground ginger
  • 1 t. garlic powder
  • 1 t. chili powder
  • ½ t. salt

In a large bowl, combine the beans, tomatoes and onion (Add chicken here, if desired). Combine the remaining ingredients; stir into bean mixture. Transfer to a 3-qt. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes; stir. Bake, uncovered, 15-30 minutes longer or until heated through.

What we thought about:

Overall, this was a pretty tasty dish. It reminds me of a sweet, chicken chili. If you don’t like your main dish to be sweet, this is not the meal for you. As far as it being easy to make, I give it a ten. It is very colorful and attractive to the eye. Another bonus is, it makes a lot! This serves 12 people. It would be a good dish to serve at a potluck or to put a meal in the freezer for another day.

*** Notice the dropped biscuit instead of a roll. Once again I was short on time. Dropped biscuits are another quick bread idea!