Money Saved On Last Shopping Trip

I didn't do as well this last shipping trip as I did the previous two... One reason was extras for the Super Bowl. Another reason was the fact that DH went shopping with me to Walmart and we bought a couple things for our sons' Nerf guns :) FOr our oldest, it was a special treat for all the extra chores he has been doing without even being asked :)
I still went under by about $30-$40, so that is not too bad. Going under instead of going over is nice, no matter what the amount is! Also, I did a bit of shopping at Walgreen's and got a $2 in register reward (actually $3, but I used $1 of it for a second shopping trip a couple days after earning the $1 RR). And, I also bought a printer ink refill, which was on sale for $5 but has a $5 rebate-so that is free and I should get the $5 in a few weeks or so since it is my 1st time doing a rebete through Walgreen's.
So, all in all, not too bad :) Eric was impressed when I told him how much I had saved at Walgreen's and also when he learned I would be getting the printer ink refill for free.

iRazoo

I found a new search and win site that seems promising. It is called iRazoo






You earn points for every search you make-up to 100 points a day. You can also earn extra points for commenting on a website found for you by iRazoo. It does take more points to get a prize than it would take through SwagBucks.com, but I think it equals out since iRazoo gives you points everytime :)

Banana Muffins

Mmm--mmmm! These were good! I have to say I was surprised. I will post the recipe I used from AllRecipes.com below but I want to review these. I doubled the recipe, so all my reviews and recipe variations will be for my doubled version (the recipe below is not be doubled though)..

I used half margerine and half applesauce (unsweetened). I added in cinnamon (not sure of amounts-just sprinkled, but if I had to guess, I would say a good 2 teaspoons). I also added in about 1 1/2 tsp of vanilla. With the flour, I used about 1 1/2 cups of wheat flour. In the one cup that I had 1/2 cup wheat in, I added about 2-3 TBS of Milled Flax seed and filled the rest of that 1 cup measuring cup with all-purpose (this was my final cup of flour I needed to add to the recipe). Other than those additions, I did this recipe as called for (only doubled, don't forget that-lol)

These were SO good out of the oven! The started to get overbaked on the outside (my oven runs hot) and I was afraid would be dry, but they were not! Usually, with fruit type breads, I find them much better after a good cool down, the next day, or after they have been frozen and thawed. But, these had a ton of good banana flavor! The wheat gave it some heartiness...You could easily add raisins and nuts to this recipe, but my kids do not like that all that much, so I left them out...of course, I just remembered I have a huge bag of Craisins I could have added in too...will try that next time even if with just a few :)

Banana Muffins II
SUBMITTED BY: ABI_GODFREY  PHOTO BY: Allrecipes 
"These delicious banana muffins are easy for kids to make."
PREP TIME  10 Min
COOK TIME  25 Min
READY IN  35 Min
Original recipe yield 12 muffins, or 48 mini muffins


INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup butter, melted

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat muffin pans with non-stick spray, or use paper liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

Combine bananas, sugar, egg, and melted butter in a large bowl. Fold in flour mixture, and mix until smooth. Scoop into muffin pans.

Bake in preheated oven. Bake mini muffins for 10 to 15 minutes, and large muffins for 25 to 30 minutes. Muffins will spring back when lightly tapped.

Grandmother Bread...

Ok, so you can mess it up-lol! Or, I can-which is not hard for me...

I decided to follow advice I had seen on another blog. I kneaded the dough until I could make a nice ball and flatten/stretch it without tearing. This meant I had to add more flour as I went along...My bread was tough that night! I could hardly eat it and I LOVE Grandmother Bread!! So, from now on, atleast with Grandmother Bread the way I have been doing it-kneading until I can feel the elasticity. I check this by pushing (not poking the bread) two fingers into the dough and seeing if it 'bounces' back. This lets me know it has good elasticity and is ready to start the rising process :)

I made some waffles last night before I started dinner. I was able to get two good batches made and this will give the kids breakfast for two days. Waffles take awhile, so next time I will definitely start them earlier and triple or quadruple my recipe to make enough to throw in the freezer :) Today, I hope to make some banana muffins to stick in the freezer for later in the week.
I would post pics, but I have lost my camera...need to find it. It is probably lost on the desk somewhere...another reason I need to clean it off!

A Huge Turkey Blessing

I have seen other bloggers talk about buying turkeys after the Holidays for really cheap. I have looked around, but never found such great deals. Then, the other day, my friend called me to let me know she found turkeys marked at $5 each and asked if I wanted one :) YAY! I was thrilled-almost high-over the excitement of having a turkey for such a great price! She grabbed me a large one and I got it from her later that day. This turkey has got to be over 20 lbs! It is a monster-heavy and plump!! It is thawing in my fridge-has been since we brought it home, and I plan to brine it later on this week for dinner this weekend (hopefully it will be thawed and hopefully it will fit in my small oven-lol). After we have it for dinner, and then leftovers the next day, probably, I will take all the meat off, probably break it up and stick the carcass in my crockpot with some water to cook all day and make a nice broth...then, package up the rest of the meat for the freezer! SO glad I have that Ziploc system now!

Our turkey from Thanksgiving was a tad over 15lbs and the leftover meat from that has lasted us awhile by using it for soups, chilis, and other add ins for dishes that I would use shredded or cubed chicken. I imagine the turkey from my big guy now will last me through to late Spring or Summer-lol! If i had a freezer, separate from the one on my fridge, I would have tried to get another turkey to save for Thanksgiving, but Im thrilled with just this one and can't wait to stock my freezer with lots of turkey :)

Free Diet Dr Pepper Coupon By Mail

Go here and sign up for a fre Diet Dr. Pepper-either 20 oz or 1 liter-comes in the mail :)

Goal Setting Sunday

I did not get my goal met last week :( Bad Debbie!! I did get one box condensed, but that is a far as it went...So, I will try again this week. With bad, icy weather, I might need something to do...

I also plan to make a big batch of waffles and pancakes. I am going to search for a good muffin recipe and hopefully will throw out a big batch of muffins. My freezer has quite a few nanners stored in it, so I can use probably half of those up.

We are stocked up nicely for any major ice storm that might be coming our way. We might be headed out to get more wood this afternoon as our supply went a bit when the furnace was out. And, our flashlights need batteries-lol! So, I will need to get some, just in case. I don't want this to be like the ice storm we had Dec 2007 and when we needed batteries, candles, etc, there were none to be found :( Sometimes it was hard to find water! Our well pump ran on electricity, so without electric, we had no water...11 days...ok, I can feel the panic attacks starting-lol!

Saving Money

I have been proud of myself lately...you see, I have been able to not spend my full amount budgeted for groceries lately. The last three times I have been shopping, I have gone anywhere from $50-$100 less than my usual budgeted amount. I don't think store prices have come down, and I have always been a conscientious shopper. I look closely at prices, compare items (both in price and size) and pay attention to the prices as my items are being rung (rang?) up :) I use coupons-usually, I am able to save an average of $10 with my coupons. I imagine if I went to more stores that doubled my coupons, I could save more, but unless I see a really good deal, I usually do not go out of my way that much.

I usually shop 4 different stores..they are not too much out of my way and I know I save alot, even with the gas I spend. One of those stores is the bread store and I can usually find terrific deals on english muffins, tortillas, and bread.

But, I got to thinking the other day on ways to reduce even more! I usually buy 2 bags of cereal for the kids...depending on the type of cereal, this can last my kids anywhere from 5-8 days (sometimes more). So, two bags costs us about $6 (they are $3 each for the store brand bagged cereal). I thought, I could buy a whole bag of flour, plus maybe eggs, for the price of one bag. I could make the kids a much healthier breakfast-something like some nice healthy pancakes (we add whole wheat, oats and ground flax seed to our recipe), some good muffins, etc...

It will mean planning on my behalf. Many things I thought of I can make ahead of time and keep in the freezer :) I can make a good stash of muffins, pancakes, waffles, homemade breakfast bars/cookies, etc... and the kids can pull them out that morning, or I can place them in the fridge the night before to thaw a bit. I think pulling them out to thaw will also allow me to keep track of what we have used and what we have left :)

So, after talking with the kids, we are going to start this new challenge :) This will be my goal for next week too, making big batches of breakfast items for the nest two weeks. There are mornings my oldest two can provide breakfast because they enjoy making muffins. Also, Josh has started to enjoy making eggs and toast for everyone, so I am sure he can take a morning of breakfast duties as well :)

I will let everyone know how our challenge goes in a couple of weeks. Im hoping the kids enjoy it and maybe we can do away with cereal altogether--maybe buying some for special occassions :)

Walgreen's Next Week

Walgreen's is going to have a few great items on sale starting Sunday :) First off, they will have their printer refills (black I assume) for $5 and then, you can use the mail in rebate from the Easy Saver Catalog (or I think you can also do your rebate from their website...I will learn more after I do this deal ) and get $5 back-so a free refill! Yeah, Baby! Then, I noticed they have Reynold's Foil on sale-I think it is the 50 sq ft size, for 89 cents...maybe you have a coupon for this. I need to look through my coupons and see :) There are other good items which I already forget, but the ad comes out on Sunday. Go to my blogs on the left and click on From Wags to Riches and she has a link to view the ad ahead of time :)

Reasor's and Food Pyramid

Here are some sales for Reasor's and Food Pyramid this week:

Food Pyramid

They have a 1 day sale going Saturday, Jan. 24-
Libby's canned veggies-42 cents, limit 6
CapriSun juice packs-$1.75 limit 2
Ozarka Water 24pk. $2.99 limit 2
Hot House Tomatoes-$1.29/lb

Regular sale items for the rest of the week:
Pork Steak, Country style ribs, or Pork Should Butt (how can the should be on the butt?) roast-$1.19/lb
Apples-Gala or another which I can't read but want to say fuji?- 99 cents/lb
Charmin Big Squeeze 9pk-3.99
Hiland Cottage Cheese 24 oz-$1.89 and this Sunday there was a $.45 off coupon-doubled makes this $.99
Hiland Orange Juice-gallon-$2.89-$.55 off coupon from Sunday paper-won't be doubled-$2.34
Ground Round-$1.99/lb

Reasors:
Make sure you grab an ad if you didn't get one in the mail because these first few items are on sale with the coupons in the ad:
Pepsi 2 liter-98 cents
American Beauty Pasta 24 oz, select varieties-99 cents
4 lb bag naval oranges-$1.67
Swanson Dinners-77 cents
Swanson Pot Pies-2/88 cents
Crystal Farms Block Cheese-16 oz-$3.39

These prices may not be the same for your local store's so check online before you go, or check your ads :) These prices are for Tulsa area :)