Appetizer or Breakfast

I'm going to an ornament exchange tonight and need to take an appetizer.  I made sausage bread for a party last Christmas and it was a hit, so why not make it again? It's easy to make (my number 1 criteria) and you could even eat it for breakfast.  It would be great for Christmas morning too!

Sausage Bread

1 loaf pizza dough.

1 lb sausage
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
3 or 4 cloves garlic, pressed
2 eggs

oil

Cook sausage and crumble finely.  Mix cheese, eggs, parsley, sausage, and garlic in bowl.  Roll dough to 1/4 " thick.  Spread cheese /sausage mixture on dough.  Roll and brush with oil.  Bake 350 degrees 25-30 minutes.  Sprinkle the top with cheese.  Slice and serve.

Mmmmmm ... Oreo Truffles

 Oreos are so yummy.  This recipe is easy and makes a treat everyone will love.

 Oreo Truffles

1 pkg. (8 oz.)  cream cheese, softened

1 pkg.  (16.6 oz.) Oreo Cookies, finely crushed 

1   1 lb. pkg of chocolate candy coating

Mix cream cheese and cookie crumbs until well blended.  It easier to use your hands to do this. Shape into 1-inch balls. Dip in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. Refrigerate 30 minutes or until firm.

Place chocolate in a microwaveable bowl. Microwave on HIGH 1 min. or until chocolate is completely melted, stirring every 20 seconds

To coat truffles with the melted chocolate, add truffles, in batches, to bowl of melted chocolate. Use a spoon and fork to roll truffles in chocolate until evenly coated. Remove truffles with the fork, letting excess chocolate drip back into bowl. Place truffles on prepared baking sheet; let stand until firm.

Store in the refrigerator in a covered container. 

Makes about 4 dozen 

Magic Reindeer Food

Here's a special something for Christmas Eve.  You'll want to share this with the kids in your neighborhood.  You can make as much or as little as you'd like.

Magic Reindeer Food

Cheerios
Red or green colored sugar

Put Cheerios in a food processor to finely crush.  Stir in colored sugar.  Put about a tablespoon in a bag and give it to your kids to sprinkle on the lawn Christmas Eve for Santa's reindeer.  Since it's magic food, it doesn't take much to feed 8 tiny reindeer.  You can also go to the site below to print out directions for your children. 


http://www.stampin-pad.com/Files/Patterns/ReindeerFoodPage.pdf

Easy Treat

 Need a quick treat for a party or unexpected gathering?  Try these.  The sweet and salty mix is good.  I know reindeer don't have green noses, but I didn't have a ton of M&M's on hand.  They're still good though!

Reindeer Noses

Small pretzels - twists, circles, or waffle
Hershey Kisses, unwrapped
M&M's

Lay pretzels out in a layer on a cookie sheet.  Top each one with Hershey Kiss and bake at 225 degrees for 4 minutes.  Remove from the oven and press the M&M on top of the Kiss.  Let cool to allow the chocolate to harden.

Merry Christmas To My Dogs!

Everyone knows I love my dogs.  I always say that once my kids left home, I had to replace them.  So, I replaced them with dogs!  Since it's almost Christmas, it's time to make cookies.  A friend of mine shared a recipe for cookies for dogs with me.  I decided to start the Christmas season with cookies for my girls ... dogs.  I gave them one and they gobbled it up!  Their cookies are in the shape of pigs because it's the only cookie cutter I have.  The girls didn't mind though.  I told them they were Christmas pigs.  :)

Dog Cookies

1 cup peanut butter
3 cups flour
2 large eggs
3/4 cup molasses or honey

Mix together and roll out into a thin sheet of dough (maybe 1/8 inch) Use cookie cutters to cut the shapes or shape as desired. Bake at 325F until dry (about 8 – 10 min.). 

Makes about 60 cookies.  People can eat these if they want to.  

Puppy Pig Cookies!

My sweet girls.

Dear God, Just Get Me Through This Week!

This is the last week at school before Christmas Break.  The schools now refer to it as Winter Break.  Except for me.  I will always refer to it as CHRISTMAS Break.  Last week the kids were CRAAAAZY!  I can only imagine what this week will bring.  I thought I had better prepare after last week so I made out the menu for Monday through Friday.  You'll notice the dinners get easier as the week goes on because I know my energy level will drop daily.  I hope this will help to get you through this week too!  Merry Christmas!

Monday - Taco Ring - pre-cook your meat today to make it easier on you tomorrow.
                                  *I'll post a pic after I make it.
Tuesday - Breakfast
Wednesday - Baked potatoes with toppings
Thursday - Chili
Friday - DiGiorno Pizza with chicken wings- They were on sale at Kroger today AND I had a coupon.


Taco Ring

1 lb. ground beef
1 package (1.25 oz) taco seasoning mix
1 c. (4 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
2 T. water
2 8-oz packages refrigerated crescent rolls
1 c. salsa (optional)
3 c. lettuce, shredded
1 medium tomato, diced
¼ c. onion, chopped (optional)
½ c. pitted ripe olives - sliced
sour cream

Directions:


Preheat oven to 375°. Brown the ground beef, then drain. Add taco season and simmer.
Unroll the crescent dough; separate into triangles. Arrange triangles in a circle on a pizza pan with the wide ends toward the center of the pan, overlapping each other. It will look like a large sun with the points hanging half off the pan.
There should be a 5 or 6 inch opening in the center. Spoon the meat mixture evenly onto widest end of each triangle. Bring points of triangles up over filling and tuck under wide ends of dough. (Filling will not be completely covered). Bake 18-22 minutes or until golden brown.
Shred lettuce, and dice tomato and onions. Slice the olives. Arrange salad items in the center of the ring.

I was at a loss of recipes to post.  So what does a person do these days when they need something?  They take it to Face Book!  And that's what I did.  Friends started responding right away.  It's funny because several wanted one dish breakfast casseroles.  I wouldn't have thought to post those.  Good idea, friends!  This is a recipe I fix every Christmas Eve and put it in the refrigerator so I can take it out and cook it Christmas morning. By the time we have all examined our stockings, the casserole is ready.  After we go through our stockings, we eat breakfast and then head to the tree to open presents.  We didn't do it in this order when the kids were little though.  That would not have made for a good start on Christmas morning.  Try this recipe this Christmas.  It will make your Christmas morning (or any hectic morning) much more enjoyable.  If you have a small family, this recipe is easy to cut in half.

Breakfast Casserole

6 eggs

2 cups of milk

1 tsp. salt

6 slices of bread, cubed

1 lb.  cooked sausage, bacon, or ham

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Cook, drain, and crumble the choice of meat you would like to use.  Set aside.  Beat eggs, add milk and salt.  Spray a 9x13 baking dish with Pam.  Add cubed bread.  Sprinkle meat over the bread.  Add egg mixture.  Top with cheese.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.  Take it out the next morning and bake at 350 degrees for 40 – 45 minutes.

Pizza for Breakfast? Of Course!

Several years ago my class was having a Christmas party and a mom volunteered to make Breakfast Pizza since out party was in the morning.  The kids loved having pizza for breakfast!

Breakfast Pizza

1 Boboli pizza crust

1 cup shredded 3 cheese blend

8 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled

2 large eggs

½ cup of milk

Place pizza crust on a pizza pan.  Sprinkle with cheese and bacon.

Whisk together eggs and milk until well blended.  Pour over center of crust.

Bake at 400 degrees for 12 – 15 minutes or until the egg mixture is set and cheese is golden brown.  Cut into wedges and serve.

*Options

Before adding the egg mixture, you can sprinkle ham, cooked crumbled sausage, or thinly sliced vegetables.

The Devil Made Me Do It!

Some of you may not be old enough to understand the title of this post.  If that's you, ask your parents.  They'll remember who Flip Wilson and his character Geraldine were.  He was a hilarious comedian and had some great characters that he portrayed.  I even had a Flip Wilson / Geraldine doll when I was a kid.  It had Flip Wilson on one side and Geraldine on the other.  When you pulled a string, a recorded Flip Wilson line would be said.  I received the doll as a Christmas present from my grandparents.  My younger cousin was so mad at me.  My grandmother always bought us the same thing and my cousin did not want a Flip Wilson doll.  I thought it was only fair.  I didn't want the clock toy that taught you how tell time.  We got that gift because my cousin was having trouble telling time.  This little trip down memory lane has nothing to do with this post, but the title was the first thing I thought of when I decided to post the recipe for deviled eggs.

It seems that at every holiday gathering we have deviled eggs.  Is that true in your family too?  I always like to make sure we have leftovers of deviled eggs because I use the extra to make tuna salad the next day.  All the ingredients in the deviled eggs are also in the tuna salad I make.  It's up to you as to how many you need to make.  I don't measure the ingredients.  I just scoop the ingredients and mix them until it looks right.

Deviled Eggs

Hard boiled eggs

Mayo

Pickle relish

Salt & pepper to taste

Paprika

Boil as many eggs as needed.  Slice eggs in half and lay on a plate.  Put yolks in a bowl and mash with a fork.  Add mayo and stir until creamy.  Add relish to your taste.  I only use a little sprinkle of salt and pepper.  Fill the eggs with the mixture and sprinkle paprika on top for color.  Chill.

Say No To Canned Cranberry Sauce!

I know that most people open a can of cranberry  sauce and put it on the table at Thanksgiving.  So did we until a few years ago.  Once an acquaintance gave me this recipe, those days were over.  This is so much better than your typical cranberry sauce.  It makes enough for 2 bowls so you can put a bowl at each end of your serving area.  Make it the day before you need it so it will have time to set and the flavors to blend.  I'm not sure it would freeze well, but you won't have to worry about that once your guests taste it.  There won't be enough left to freeze.  I have been known to eat it without any other food after Thanksgiving.  Yummmmmm!

Cranberry Relish

1 1/2 c. water
1 pkg raw cranberries
1 c. sugar
1 small pkg cherry jello
1 small can of crushed pineapple, well drained
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled & finely chopped
1/2 c. chopped pecans

Combine water and cranberries in a pot and simmer for 10 minutes. Mash the cranberries with a potato masher.  Add sugar and jello. Stir. Remove from heat and let mixture partially cool. Add drained pineapple, apple, and nuts. Stir.  Pour into a dish and chill. 

Memories

When I was growing up, my mother made the best red velvet cake EVER.  Yes.  I said EVER!  Sometimes we had it at Thanksgiving, but we always had it at Christmas. When it was our birthday, we got to choose what kind of cake we wanted and Mama would make it.  My brother's birthday was only a few days before Christmas and his favorite cake was red velvet.  So lucky us would all get to enjoy his favorite cake.  He was the easy one to bake for.  I had so many favorites, it was an ordeal for me to narrow the choices down to one.  I still have this problem.  And my brother?  His favorite is still red velvet.

This is my mother's made from scratch recipe.  Bon appetite!

Red Velvet Cake

½ cup of butter

1 ½ cup of sugar

2 eggs

2 oz. of red food coloring

1 tsp. vanilla

2 Tb. cocoa

1 tsp. salt

1 cup of buttermilk

2 ½ cup plain flour

½ tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. vinegar

1 tsp. baking soda

Cream the butter, sugar, and eggs until light and whippy.  Make a paste with the food coloring and cocoa.  Add to previous mixture.  Add salt and baking powder to flour.  Add this to the above mixture.  Add buttermilk a little at a time.  Add vanilla.  Mix vinegar and baking soda together.  Add last.  Beat lightly.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Make 2 8” or 9” layers.

Icing

1 cup of butter

1 cup of sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 Tb. of cornstarch

1 cup of water

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.  Cook together vanilla, cornstarch, and water until thick.  Stir with a whisk to keep lumps from forming.  Let cool.  Combine with butter and sugar.  Beat until light and fluffy.

Let's Salsa!

 I was in Kroger the other night and a man was doing a demonstration in the produce department.  He made mild homemade salsa.  The hubby was with me and we both tried it.  We both thought it was yummy.  The gentleman was nice enough to share his recipe with me so I'm sharing it with you.  I hope you like it as much as we did!

Salsa

2 medium tomatoes, quartered without seeds

¼  yellow pepper

½ small onion

4 sprigs of cilantro

2 cloves of garlic

½ tsp. salt

Juice of 1 lime

1/3 jalapeno

Put all the ingredients in a food processor and chop until well blended.  Serve with tortilla chips.

You can add more jalapeno if you like your salsa hotter.  

Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookies

I had another couponing class at my home today and wanted to prepare a special snack for those that attended.  These cookies are VERY rich and you can really only eat one.  It's like eating 3 cookies at once.  Make sure you have a big glass of milk when you eat these.  You could use the recipe for homemade chocolate chip cookies and I'm sure it would be even better.  However, if time is a major concern for you, using the cookie mix below is a great trade off.

Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookies

1 package of Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Cookie mix (the kind in a bag)
1 Tb. flour
1 stick of butter, melted
1 egg
Oreo Cookies (I used double stuff)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.


Mix cookie mix with 1 stick of melted butter, 1 Tb, of flour, and 1 egg.  Stir until well mixed.


With a  spoon, form small balls of dough. To assemble cookies, place one ball on top of an Oreo cookie, and another ball on the bottom. Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo cookie is fully enclosed with dough.

Place cookies about one and a half-inch width apart on the baking sheet. Bake for 13-15 minutes, until tops are golden brown. Let cool in tray for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

I probably could have used less chocolate chip cookie dough.

 Here's another idea!  You can make them in a cupcake pan!

Birthday Dinner

I asked my son if he wanted to go out to dinner for his birthday or did he want me to fix him a home cooked meal of his choice.  Being a bachelor, he eats out a lot or just eats frozen dinners.  He chose to have a home cooked meal.  He wanted that "chicken and ham stuff that I fix."  WOO HOO!  That's easy enough!  The next day I took leftovers to school for lunch and was asked to post the recipe on the blog.  So here you go!

Chicken Breasts with Ham and Cheese

2/3 cup Bisquick baking mix

4-6 chicken breasts, skinless and boneless

2 Tb.oil

2 Tb. butter

4-6 slices of sandwich ham

1 small can of sliced mushrooms, drained (reserve the liquid)

¼ cup chicken broth

1 cup shredded mozzarella

Coat chicken in Bisquick.  Heat oil and butter in a pan until hot.  Cook the chicken over medium heat until brown (about 6 minutes on each side).  Arrange cooked chicken in a glass dish sprayed with Pam.  Lay ham on top of chicken, arrange mushrooms on top of the ham, and sprinkle the cheese on top.  Pour mushroom liquid and chicken broth in pan and cook for 30 seconds over medium heat.  Pour liquid over the cheese.  Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 7 minutes.

I Hit A Home Run!

My son came over for dinner tonight and I wanted to prepare a dessert that was a little different from the kind of thing I usually fix.  So I came up with Peanut Butter Brownie Pizza.  It was good.  Even my son liked it and he's not a big fan of desserts.  I feel like I struck a home run with this one!

 

 Peanut Butter Brownie Pizza

 1 pkg. of brownie mix

¾ cup peanut butter

1 can of chocolate icing

Reese's Pieces, optional

Prepare brownie mix by the directions on the box.  Add ¼ cup of peanut butter to the mix.  Spread batter onto a pizza pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 28 – 30 minutes.  Let cool.  Mix icing with ½ cup of peanut butter and spread on top of brownie pizza. Sprinkle Reese's Pieces on top if you'd like.  Cut into 12 pieces and enjoy.

What Should We Have For Dinner?

I got up this morning trying to decide what to fix for dinner.  I hate deciding what to cook for dinner.  Sometimes I feel like I'm making the same things over and over.  I wish there was a dinner fairy that would tell me what my family would want to eat by dinner time.  It would be really nice if that dinner fairy would do the shopping, cooking, and cleaning too.  Oh well, back to reality.  I went through my freezer to see if anything appealed to me.  I found half a pork tenderloin that told me I should cook it.  I cut some of it up into cubes to make a Cashew pork Stir-fry.  The rest was cut into boneless pork chops for dinner tomorrow night.  I also made some fried rice to go with the stir-fry.  I already have the fried rice recipe on the blog.  There will also be enough leftovers for lunch tomorrow!

Cashew Pork Stir-fry

¾ pounds of boneless lean pork, cut into cubes

1 Tb. stir-fry sauce

2 Tb. oil

2 stalks of celery cut into ½” pieces

1 onion, sliced

1 green or red pepper, ½” pieces

8 oz. fresh whole mushrooms cut into quarters

2 tomatoes, cut into small pieces

¼ cup more stir-fry sauce

½ cup cashews

Heat 1 Tb. of oil in large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add pork and 2 Tb. stir-fry sauce.  Cook for 3-4 minutes or until no longer pink.  Add celery, onion, pepper, and cashews.  Cook for 3 more minutes.  Add mushrooms, tomatoes, and ¼ cup stir-fry sauce.  Cook until mushrooms are completely cooked.  Serve with rice or over rice.

Pumpkin Pie

According to my son, my grandmother always made the best pumpkin pie ever.  I don't eat pumpkin pie so I'm not the best judge of a good one or a bad one.  Several years ago I thought I would give making a pumpkin pie a try.  My grandmother told me how she made hers and I followed her directions.  She told me it was so easy that there was no way to mess it up.  Famous last words.  I proudly presented the pie to my son to get his opinion.  He took a couple of bites and told me I should, "leave the pumpkin pie making to Grandma." Well, that pie went straight into the trash can.  For a number of years I took my son's advice and let Grandma make the pumpkin pies.  Then one day I found a recipe called Perfect Pumpkin Pie.  I thought I'd give it a try and if it wasn't any good, I'd give up the quest.  This one passed the test.  So, in case you are like me and the pumpkin pies you have made in the past stink, there is hope.  Try this pie recipe and see how you like it.

Perfect Pumpkin Pie

1  15oz. can of pumpkin

1  14oz. can of sweetened condensed milk

2 eggs

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. ground ginger

½ tsp. ground nutmeg

½ tsp. salt

1  9 inch unbaked pie crust

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Whisk pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, spices, and salt until smooth.  Pour into crust and bake for 15 minutes.  Reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue baking for 35 – 40 minutes until knife inserted 1” from the crust comes out clean.  Cool. Refrigerate leftovers.

BIG NEWS!!

YES!  I have BIG NEWS!  Today I went grocery shopping and came home to record how much I had spent and saved with coupons.  I have now passed the $1000.00 mark in coupon savings!  I have saved $1014.07 in coupons so far this year.  I have spent $2463.70 on groceries.  The groceries also include pet food and cleaning supplies.  That averages out to approximately $62 a week spent on groceries and that's for 3 meals a day.  Couponing is definitely worth the trouble!  After you learn how to do it, it's really no trouble at all.  Join me for my next couponing class at Meadowcreek Elementary on October 17th at 4:30 to learn how you can do this too.  Let me know if you like to come for the class and I'll send you the information!

PARTY! PARTY!

We have a teacher at school who is due to have her first baby in about a month, so my grade level gave her a shower. I found this punch recipe online and another teacher made it.  It was very tasty!  If you'd rather not make the ginger ale ring, you don't have to.  When I've made punch in the past, I have thawed a container of frozen strawberries and left them to float around in the punch.  You could even put them in a blender if you'd like.  Whichever way you choose, you and your guests will enjoy this punch.

Mock Champagne Punch

2 (2 liter) bottles ginger ale, chilled
1 (46 fluid ounce) can pineapple juice, chilled
1 (64 fluid ounce) bottle white grape juice, chilled

Strawberries, if desired

Directions

To make the ice ring: Fill a ring-shaped cake pan to 1/3 with ginger ale.  Freeze until partially frozen. At this stage you can place pieces of fruit around the ring. Fill pan 1/3 more with ginger ale and freeze until solid. Remember that the ginger ale will expand.  Place in punch bowl just before serving.  In a large punch bowl, combine 1 bottle ginger ale, pineapple juice and white grape juice.

Making Changes for the Better

I found a new recipe this week that sounded pretty good.  By the time I made a few changes to it, it sounded even better.  Below is the new and improved recipe.  I made it for dinner last night and I can say it was good.  Since there are just 2 of us left in the house now, I didn't want to make it in the big 9x13 pan.  I used 2 of the smaller aluminum pans and froze one of them.  Now I have dinner ready for another night!  YAY!  I forgot to take a picture of it until we were half way through dinner.  I'll take a picture when I cook the other half.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

3/4cup sour cream

1 can chicken broth

1 Tb. Dijon mustard

¼ tsp black pepper

1 ½ cup instant rice, uncooked

2 cups cooked cubed chicken

½ cup diced ham

1  6 oz. package Swiss cheese slices, cut into small pieces

1 cup frozen peas and carrots

½ cup plain bread crumbs

2 Tb. butter, melted

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Whisk together sour cream, chicken broth, mustard, and pepper in a large bowl until well blended.  Add rice, chicken, ham, Swiss cheese, and peas and carrots.  Mix with a spoon.  Pour into a 9x13 pan or 2 smaller pans for freezing.  Mix bread crumbs, butter, and Parmesan cheese.  Spread evenly over the top of the casserole.  Bake uncovered for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown.

I Love My Crock Pot

Yesterday was a FABULOUS day!  My daughter came to visit with the two most perfect grandkids a grandmother could ever ask for.  We played and played, took a nap, visited with friends, and played and played, sang songs, drew pictures, and, of course, we ate.  I tried a new recipe from theskinnycrockpot.com.  My daughter is always a good one to try new recipes on.  It was good, but I think next time I'll make a few little changes to the recipe.  I'm going to post the recipe with the alterations that I'll make next time.  It made so much that I put the leftovers in the freezer for dinner another night.  I LOVE IT when that happens! It was even nicer that the recipe was mostly made in the crock pot so I had more time with my babies.

Chicken Zucchini Ziti 

1  24 oz. jar of spaghetti sauce
1  box wheat penne pasta, cooked
2 cups cottage cheese or ricotta cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

2 cups shredded or cubed chicken, optional
2 large zucchini (1/4” slices)

1 onion thinly sliced or chopped
3/4 tablespoon oregano 

3/4 tablespoon basil

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Cook pasta, drain, and set aside.  In a large mixing bowl combine cottage cheese, mozzarella, oregano, basil and black pepper. In the Crock Pot, spoon 1/4 of spaghetti sauce onto the bottom, add 1/3 penne pasta, 1/3 shredded chicken, 1/3 of zucchini slices and onion, and top with 1 cup cheese mixture.  Repeat until you have 3 layers. Top off with remaining spaghetti sauce and cheese.

Cover and cook on high for approximately 2 – 2 1/2 hours.  Allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Note to self:  As you spread the cheese mixture be careful to keep it away from the edge of the crock pot by about an 1”. Cheese tends to burn if touching the sides while cooking.

I couldn't take the picture before part of it was scooped out.  My camera was being used at the time to upload a video of my grandson sending Poppaw a message.  Poppaw loved it!  I hate he wasn't here in person.

GREAT Couponing Day

This is what a GREAT couponing day looks like! I bought 10 containers of yogurt, 2 cans of cat food, 2 bags of cat treats, 1 bag of frozen veggies, 1 bottle of Dr. Pepper, 2 bottles of vitamins, and 3 containers of cappuccino.  The BEST part is that I only paid $3.00 for all of it!

Lots of things were on sale. Once I used the coupons for them, they were free. The cats treats were on sale for $1 each and I had a $1 coupon for both of them. Each bag of treats had a coupon for a can of free cat food. I also had a free coupon for the beans and Dr. Pepper. I found store coupons for the coffee and the vitamins were BOGO.

I hope you can make it to one of my couponing classes!

 

Couponing

As I may have mentioned before, I have a passion for coupons.  O.K.  Not really for coupons, but for saving money.  After I walk away with big savings, I feel like I have beat the stores at their own game or at least gave them a good run for the money.  When I have a "GREAT DEAL DAY," I walk away with such an internal rush.  I can't wait to go home to show my savings to my hubby and make him guess how much I spent.  Today I had a good savings day.  Here is what I came home with.

12 rolls of Bounty paper towels, 16 rolls of Charmin toilet paper, 2 boxes of Puffs kleenex, and 4  12 pack boxes of Coke Zero.  How much did I spend?  $25.43 PLUS $3 in Extra Care Bucks to spend toward my next purchase at CVS.  I saved $15.50 in coupons and a total savings with coupons and sales prices of $34.84!  Before the savings, I would have spent over $60 for this.  That is about a 58% savings!!  After my $10 of ECB and 2 $1.00 coupons, I spent $1.39 for the 4 boxes of Coke.

Another thing I'm excited about is that I have been asked to teach a couple of couponing classes.  The first one will be at my house at 1:00 on September 24th.  The other one will be October 17th at 4:30 at Meadowcreek Elementary.  Let me know if you would like to attend one of these events!

Happy Labor Day!

I had planned to grill out since it was Labor Day.  God had other plans.  He sent rain.  We just had a drizzly rain all day, but the towns around us had LOTS of rain and storms.  This made it a good day to stay indoors and get things done.  So I fixed country fried steak and gravy instead of ribs.  That's O.K.  The ribs will keep until another day.  I am posting the recipe for the country fried steak and my grandmother's white gravy.  I also made mashed potatoes from scratch.  If you need to know how to do that, let me know and I'll post it too.

Country Fried Steak and Gravy

3 – 4 pieces of cubed steak

2 cups of plain flour

salt and pepper to taste

water

Put flour, salt, and pepper in a plastic bag and mix.  Wet the cube steak with water and place in plastic bag with the flour mixture.  Close bag and shake to coat meat.  Lay the meat in a preheat pan with a little oil in the bottom.  Brown on each side.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer until golden brown.

White Gravy

3 Tb. oil

2 Tb. plain flour

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup of milk

Put oil, flour, salt, and pepper in a small pot and let brown.  Add milk.  Stir frequently until thickened.  If the gravy becomes too thick, add a little water and stir.

TOP TEN!!!

I'm so excited!!!!  I've been named as one of another blogger's Top Ten favorite blogs!!!!!  Thank you First Grade A La Carte!  You are such an inspiration!

Here's my Top Ten LIST!

 

http://www.southernsavers.com/

 

(Sorry, I couldn't copy an image for bakerella.)
http://www.bakerella.com


(Sorry, I couldn't copy an image for  the pioneer woman.)
http://thepioneerwoman.com/


Firstgradealacarte.blogspot.com



carlscorner.us.co

(Sorry, I couldn't copy an image for pinterest.)
pinterest.com

teacheristatales.blogspot.com

sunnyslifeinrehab.blogspot.com

moneysavingmom.com


thethriftycouple.com