I'm in the kitchen...

Cage-free eggs were on markdown at the grocers this week, so I picked up two dozen. These are the only eggs, besides farm fresh, that I will use to make roasted eggs. If you've never had them, you don't know what you're missing. To me, they are much better than any hard-boiled egg I've ever tasted.

The recipe for roasted eggs is quite simple. Place the eggs on a cookie sheet with sides and allow to warm to room temperature. Place sheet in oven, and set to 200 degrees. Cook eggs for 90 minutes at 200, then increase temp to 350 degrees. Continue roasting for 30 minutes. When done, the eggs with have brown spots on the outside of the shell from the moisture escaping. Cool and place back in carton. Refrigerate. Then, use them like hard-boiled eggs.

These are a great protein snack, and help cut the budget, too. I only make these at Passover, or when I can find the eggs on sale, because the Egglands brand are so expensive here.

At Food Pyramid, I found Filo dough on clearance for $1 per box, marked down from $4.99, I believe. I had a chicken recipe I wanted to try, so I purchased a few boxes for the freezer.

Last night, I made the Chicken Filo Packets. They were very simple and had a pretty good flavor, but I don't know that I would make them on a regular basis. I'm usually not one to make fussy foods, and this one seemed like it should be saved for a special occasion, so I think that's what I'll do.
When the chicken came out of the oven, I put in a dish of basil leaves I picked from the garden that morning. The oven had been at 350 to cook the dinner, so I decided to just put the basil in and let it dry while the oven was cooling. (Above is the "after" picture")

This morning, I got the basil out, crushed it in my palms, and filled a recycled spice jar I had in the pantry. I'm going to try this "homemade" basil in Chicken Rice Soup before too long. If it tastes right, I'm going to dry more for the pantry before winter sets in.

Here's a handy website all about basil.

I need to repent!

In the spirit of honesty, I need to say that I purchased 24 pounds of unsalted butter on Tuesday.

Yes, I said 24 pounds.

Remember my post about cutting the grocery budget for the next two weeks, to help pay for the fridge? Well, I put God in a box.

It was totally wrong of me to assume that since my funds were tight, I wouldn't be able to stockpile or garage sale. His strength is made perfect in my weakness.

So when I was at the grocery store today to pick up some free salad for dinner, I asked the dairy manager to mark down some of the items on clearance. I offered to buy them all, and he marked them, 7 packages of Buitoni pasta from 75 cents to 25 cents.! So, I became bold!!!

I asked if he had anything else he would be marking down tomorrow, and I'm glad I did. I walked out of the store with 24 packages of unsalted butter for 75 cents a piece! I was shocked. Young mothers were following me around in the store, wondering why I was getting the royal treatment. And, they were watching me fill my cart, then going behind me to grab some for themselves!!

The kind dairy manager also gave me a tip about OM turkey bacon on clearance for 99 cents in the meat department, so I purchase some for myself, a friend, and a neighbor in need. And, I left some for others. I don't want to be this girl:

On the way home, I was reminded about my blog post, and realized that the smaller my budget, the bigger the opportunity for God to provide abundantly for me. And He sure did!

This is what I've stockpiled so far this summer, including the last four items this week:
40 pounds of granulated sugar
4 pounds of brown sugar
4 pounds of powdered sugar
2 buckets of hard red wheat

25 packages shredded cheese

24 cups of shredded zucchini

20 pounds of butter

5 pounds of turkey bacon

5 packages of ravoili

Here's a link to a yummy looking recipe using zucchini for lasagna. I'll be making this with the free cheese from the cheese deal a few weeks back, and some of the zucchini from my backyard.

Hearts and Homes...

Here are some thoughts from comments a blog post over at Like Merchant Ships. I needed to read both the post and the comments left by others, and you might, too...

"For this very reason, I had to make myself not buy any craft supplies in May because I'd realized I dream and buy for my dreams, but I never turn dreams to reality by making the things I imagine." Anne Marie

"I am getting rid of things right and left. I want to see empty space, not storage boxes...." Roxie700

"It has taken me many years to figure out it's not the space, it's me! I didn't need to change my space I needed to change my habits." Carrie

And, Meredith, whose original post inspired all this in the first place, "I did some deep thinking surrounded by Rotel and Ziplocs. Here are a few conclusions..."

(The pictures are ones I took on the 2009 Parade of Homes tour in Tulsa, Oklahoma.)

Coffee Anyone?

Here's another deal for the new Broken Arrow Target store, but it's only good until the 13th of April, so you'll have to hurry!

The 11 or 12 oz. Dunkin' Donuts Coffee is on sale for $4.99, on the new store special. Combine that with the current $.75/1 Target printable, found here, and the $1.50/1 manufacturer coupon from last Sunday's RedPlum insert, and you'll get your coffee for $2.74 a bag!

For a recap of weekly Target deals, you can also check out this site.

Free Yummyness!

Hurry to Target right now to find these Starbucks individual Dark Chocolate Mocha bars, and two packs of Cafe Mocha truffles on clearance for $0.90. If you combine this sale with the $1/1 off any Starbucks chocolate blinkie coupons, you'll get them for free!

If you decide to copykat this post, please give me credit and a link back! Thanks!

A Virtually Bloggy Breakfast

Good morning! In honor of dd17's birthday, I'm serving Crystal's whole-wheat pancakes to all my guests today, along with some fresh Homespun Maple Syrup from the sugar shack.

I'll be reading to you during our brunch from Farmer Boy, by Laura Ingles Wilder, since it is my favorite of all her stories, and, as you know, on birthdays we don't "do" school.

Feel free to stay in your jammies all day if you wish, and I hope you enjoy this little retreat!

Target Moneymaker and a new to me Sling

As part of contributing to our debt snowball, I've taken a part time day~care assignment. I'm keeping a 16 month old three days a week. It's quite an adventure!

I purchased this sling in a beige linen fabric from Craigslist for $10. Quite a savings for a like~new, used only twice, sling. I'm looking forward to trying it out over Spring Break, and maybe I can get a picture of me with the Princess!

I took advantage of a day with no school by heading to Target. At our store, the Quaker Chewy Chocolate Chip granola bars were on sale for $1.25, and were included in the Buy 5, Get a $5 Target GiftCard promotion. Since I had $1/2 coupons from a blinkie machine, I was able to get $10 in giftcards for $7.50 out of pocket. A $2.50 moneymaker. You gotta love Target!

I also made the invitations for my daughter's upcoming birthday bash. Check back tomorrow for the finished product, using Meredith's photo~invitation idea.

Any guesses as to what colors it might be???

I've always wished for a pantry like this.

Or maybe this.

Or this.

You get the picture.

But, alas, this is what I have instead.

So, in the spirit of working with what you have, I got busy cleaning and reorganizing the small space to take full advantage of every square inch. Above is before, and this is after.

This was a great kick off to spring break!

This side wall is the "staging area" where I keep a can or two of things I use often.

The larger shelves are for cases or multiples of items I have stockpiled like soups, peanut butter, or home canned items, plus my bulk grains and spices.

My label maker, purchased new for $5 at the thrift store, came in handy for marking my boxes and shelves with the contents.

Now, everything once again has a home, and everything is in it's home, for the moment. There is an ebb and flow with the pantry, since the contents change according to sales and deals and the seasons of the year, so I'm willing to be flexible.

I want to find a quote to paint on the shelves, so when I enter, I'm inspired and encouraged. I'd love suggestions and it'd be great if Manuela could come to Oklahoma and paint it for me. ;-)

Keeping things simple...

I'm loving the meat deal at Target right now, but my freezer is quickly filling up. Since space is valuable, and so is this food, even if I did get it for almost free, I decided to repackage the majority of my purchases with freezer paper.

The difference between packages clearly shows how much space can be saved by simply rewrapping the meat. I started by deciding what our meal portion would be, just under one pound for the three of us. This usually leaves a small amount of leftovers for hubby's lunch.

I gathered the necessary materials: freezer paper, masking tape, and a Sharpie. I start the tape and hang it on the edge of the counter, which saves time since I don't have to keep peeling the end off the roll. Cut the freezer paper to the size needed. Place the food on the shiny side of the freezer paper, bring up the sides, and fold edges down. Tape center seam, then confinue folding sides and tape closed. Write date and contents on the dull side of freezer paper.

Empty trash!

Be sure a make a list of how many packages you have and what type of cut the meat is, so you don't have to dig around in the freezer later to take an inventory!

When you put the items in the freezer, don't stack them all together as it will take the items in the center a long time to freeze. Instead, lay them in a single layer, or place already frozen items in between the single meat packages until they freeze solid.

I was amazed at exactly how much trash this generated: a whole can full! I know it saved a huge amount of space in the freezer, and the meat is more likely to stay fresh, because these packages have so much air space in them.

If you've never tried this before, don't be afraid to do so. It's quick and simple, and really worth the little bit of time for the large amount of space saved. I think it also keeps the meat more fresh than ziploc style bags.

Aldi's bargains

I don't get to Aldi on Sundays, so I won't have any pictures to post, but I noticed in the paper today that they have their 8 oz. cheese blocks for $1.29, which is as good a price as I've been able to get with coupons lately.

This may mean Kraft will come down a little more, and the .75/1 2% coupons will make for an even better deal. In the meantime, it might be wise to stock up on this cheese.

They've also marked their California Navel Oranges to $1.29 a bag, down from $2.49 last week, and their apples are .19 each, down from .35 each last week.

Shopping the clearance!

I've had success lately catching the produce manager clearancing items at my local grocer. Although their prices are ridiculously high regularly, I've been able to figure out when they mark down and try to shop during those times.

Today at CountryMart, I picked up 8 pounds of potatoes, which will become soup for the cold weekend that is forecast. I also found 2 pounds of bagged tomatoes for bruchetta, plus organic baby romaine, Dole bagged salad and strawberries, all for .99 cents a package. I need to find more Dole coupons, because I can ususally get free salad every week that way!

At Reasors, they had the Steamfresh Meals for Two on sale for $5.44. I used the $2 off coupons from a few weeks back to purchase one bag. I also had a coupon for a free bag of Steamfresh veggies or rice with the purchase of the Meals for Two. In all, I spent $3.44 plus tax for both bags. For a convenience meal, I guess that's a pretty good price, and the meal will be loaded with veggies, so pretty healthy as well.

It's now or never!

I still had pictures from the Philbrook Museum's Festival of Trees 2008 that I wanted to post. Even though I didn't have time to get them online before Christmas, I still think they are beautiful and wanted to share them. Maybe we'll be prepared to make one of these beauties for next year...

The participation was much lower this year than last, and my daughters and I were disappointed that there were so few traditional trees.

Since there were not really any traditional trees, we took some photos of the Gingerbread Houses instead. They were very creative. We especially liked the bridge in the photo above.

Isn't that a beautiful scene?

This "tree" was a framed collage fashioned from Christmas cards. We thought it was beautiful and creative.

This house was one of my favorites!

Ideas for saving money at home...


Home cooking. I joined a consumer research group and got free Pizza crust, compliments of Pssst and Pillsbury. Yummy!

I'm using what I have at home. Pears from a neighbor became snacks and fruit sides for our main meals. Peppers from our garden were stuffed with rice and ground turkey, or added to casseroles and veggie trays.

When I purchased a new box of salt, I recycled the lid by cutting it apart and adding the spout to my quart storage jar, making the salt pourable from the glass jar. Don't we all have these jars standing by, just waiting to become the perfect storage containers for our kitchen staples?

The Kraft Oscar Mayer coupons from a while back helped to fill a box in the freezer with hot dogs, which are not normal fare around here. By making homemade biscuit dough, and wrapping browned hot dogs with the cut biscuits, these have become a fall favorite with chili and a little mustard.

Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without... Old New England saying

Home cooking!

One of the best things about being a SAHM is cooking for the family. It's not a chore; it's an opportunity to directly affect the health, strength and emotions of your loved ones! It's one of the areas in which we are granted great influence over others.

For me, the dinner table is the family altar, the food representing an offering. My family would tell of the sometimes ((burnt)) offerings, but that's another story!

I first learned about the sacredness of the family table when reading Spice and Spirit, the Art of Kosher Jewish Cooking. I gleaned much from this wonderful book, and highly recommend it. Not only does it establish the holy calling to provide for the nutritional needs of the family with good purchases and clean cooking, it educates the reader on what clean is, and how to achieve a clean kitchen and home.

I prefer the edition published in the early 1970's, because it hadn't been altered much from the original intent of the ladies who worked diligently to compile the book.

Home cooking can seem daunting for those new to the challenge, but just like with any other task, we don't have to reinvent the wheel. Others have gone before us, and created a plethora of tools to assist in accomplishing the task. And, of course, we can save on the tools and ingredients with all the wonderful coupons we are able to print, like this one for parchment paper!

When short on time, there's also the option of purchasing partially prepared ingredients to cut time and still put a semi-homemade meal together quickly. I like the guest blogpost over on Money Saving Mom right now, because it is a quick and easy dinner, low in cost, and fairly healthy when paired with a fruit and vegetable or two.

On Friday, I'm trying the new pizza crust from Pillsbury. I usually make my own, but since I received a free coupon from PSST..., I'm going to give it a try. I'll let you know how it turns out!