Theology from Children

Yesterday Miss Pear said, "Oh Mommy, don't walk in the dark! I'll turn on the light for you!"

Which side do we gas up on?

My husband has a number of talents that at first kind of freaked me out, but that I have grown to both appreciate and rely on. I am incredibly geographically challenged, so when we first started dating, and we would be going somewhere we had never been before, and Mr. Pear would glance at the map and then LEAVE IT AT HOME, I would freak out, just a little bit.... But we never got lost. He is like a walking atlas, and if he has been there once, he can find it again, even years later!

When we were on vacation in September, I was surprised how he was always able to pull up the right side of the gas pump regardless of whose car we had! So I asked how he was always able to do that.

He pointed to the little gas pump by the gas gauge.

Then he brought my attention to the little arrow beside it.

Cars made in North America all have a little arrow beside the gas gauge icon pointing to which side the gas cap is on!

Am I the only one who did not know this?

So are you going to go out to your car and check?

Any ways, knowing what side to gas the car up on always works for me!

Speaking of gassing up the car, what are you paying where you live? Here in Southern California we paid $3.019 a gallon (discounted at Costco) last time we gassed up, but I am seeing it often at $3.25. (Which will probably make a whole lot of people feel better about what they are paying!)

Catch Up! Catch Up!

My MIL left Saturday, and even though she helped me with everything while she was here, I am still playing catch up today.

And after:

• 6 loads of laundry
• 4 loaves of bread baked
• 2 packages of chicken breasts cooked (a quarter of it for tonight's supper (plus either 3 lunches or another supper), rest cubed for the freezer)
• Special lunch made (recipe to follow)
  
• cleaning the whole downstairs
• playing with and comforting a little one who misses her grandma, or is it partner in crime?

I am starting to feel like my head is ever so slightly above water again.

Am I the only one who suffers from this epidemic? How do you handle it?

Menu Plan Monday January 27 - February 2

Sunday

Breakfast - Cereal, toast, fruit
Lunch - Macaroni with Beef and Tomato
Supper - Basil Chicken, Rice, Broccoli

Monday

Breakfast - Cereal, toast, fruit
Lunch - Granola Oatmeal (recipe to follow, as requested)
Supper - Southwest Soft Tacos

Tuesday

Breakfast - Granola and Yogurt
Lunch - Leftovers
Supper - Leftover Ribs and Rice

Wednesday

Breakfast - Cereal and fruit
Lunch - Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and fruit
Supper - Wowie Maui Chicken


Thursday

Breakfast - Granola and Yogurt
Lunch - Orange Raisin Biscuits and fruit *
Supper - Spaghetti

Friday

Breakfast - cereal and fruit
Lunch - Leftovers
Supper - Calzones or Pizza

Saturday

Breakfast - cereal and fruit
Lunch - Pasta Salad
Supper - Ribs and Sweet Potato Fries

Breads
Oatmeal Bread~

Winnipeg Rye Bread

French Bread ~

Cinnamon Raisin Bread (From Bread Bible on sidebar)

Whole Wheat Bread

Cookies
Oatmeal Raisin

Chocolate Crinkle

Loaves and Muffins
Tropical Muffins
Berry Oat Muffins
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins
Banana Oatmeal Muffins

Other

Scones

Chocolate Bottom Banana Squares

Mixed Berry Tart *

Orange Raisin Biscuits *

Pizza Sauce

* Recipe is from New Cook Book, Limited Edition "Pink Plaid" : For Breast Cancer Awareness (Better Homes & Gardens)

~ Recipe is from More-With-Less Cookbook (Plastic Comb) or More-With-Less Cookbook (World Community Cookbook) (Paperback)

A Long Weekend

We have big plans for the rest of this week - my husband has the rest of it off, so we are planning lots of fun before my MIL leaves on Saturday...unless I forget to take her to the airport of course...

Have a wonderful weekend! See you Monday!

Freezer Scones

My dear friend gave me a wonderful Christmas gift - scones for the freezer! They were delicious, and it was wonderful to have scones whenever we wanted with no fuss! She graciously shared the recipe with me, so now I am sharing it with you!

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt (skip if using salted butter)
  
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, or larger dried fruit roughly chopped) (optional)
• 2 1/2 sticks chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2/3 cups of buttermilk

Directions

1. Line an 11-by-17-inch baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine all dry ingredient with cherries, if using, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add butter, and mix on medium-low speed until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk, and mix until combined.
2. Turn out mixture onto a clean work surface. With hands, quickly pat mixture into a 16-by-3 1/2-inch rectangle that is 1 1/2 inches high. Score rectangle into ten triangles. Cover with plastic wrap, and transfer to the freezer for at least 2 hours.
3. (If freezing to pull a couple out at a time, remove from the freezer after about 2-3 hours, cut the rest of the way through, and freeze using the zip top bag method.)
   
4. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Remove dough from the freezer, and cut into triangles with a sharp knife. Place scones 2 inches apart on a greased baking sheet. Bake until lightly golden, about 20-25 minutes.

Next up in the series, apparently in no particular order:
- Planning your shopping, prep and cooking
- Storing your meals revisited and revised
- Keeping track of what is in your freezer and what is the oldest
- Freezer lunch stash complete with ideas
- Freezer breakfast stash complete with ideas
- What little I know about having a group of friends who share freezer meals
- Books and resources I love
- Successfully freezing cookies and baking
- Answers to questions you post for me or email to me (email button is in my profile).


Previously in the series:
Introduction to the series
Why Freezer Meals?
My Usual Method
Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Pesto Butter and Chicken Cordon Blue
Chicken Enchiladas
Kitchen Day - Tortilla Soup and Enchiladas (How To)
Blessing of Freezer Meals
Lazy Lasagna - A Freezer Meal
Sauce for Freezer Meatballs
Pineapple Tuna Cracker Snack
Freezer Cooking with Limited Space
Orange Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry
Orange-Apricot Glazed Pork Chops
Converting your Casserole Recipes to Freezer Recipes
Converting your Meat Recipes to Freezer Meals
Triple Chocolate Cookies
Bacon-Macaroni Bake
Once A Month Freezer Cooking Simply Explained
Planning Your Freezer Cooking Shopping Session
Zip Top Bag Method
Italian Sausage and Tomato Sauce
Menu Planning
Freezer Cooking Online Resources
Asian Beef Kabobs
Honey Mustard Chicken
Swapping Meals with a Friend
January Swap / Orange Teriyaki Chicken
Freezing Cookies
Redeeming Freezer Burnt Meat

Please Pray for Noah

Noah caught my attention last summer, and I have been praying for him regularly since. His button is on my sidebar.

Noah is once again very sick and in the hospital. I cannot explain the disease that makes him so sick, and I am not even certain that disease is the right word. But please click over and pray for Noah.

Menu Plan Monday January 20-26

Sunday

Breakfast - Cereal, toast, fruit
Lunch - Soup and Toast
Supper - Pizza

Monday

Breakfast - Granola Oatmeal
Lunch - Chicken Salad
Supper - Chicken Fried Rice with Sweet and Sour Sauce

Tuesday

Breakfast - Granola and Yogurt
Lunch - Chicken Salad
Supper - Tortilla Soup and bread

Wednesday

Breakfast - Cereal and fruit
Lunch - Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and fruit
Supper - Cranberry Sweet and Sour Meatballs, Rice and Veg


Thursday

Breakfast - Granola and Yogurt
Lunch - Tuna Sandwiches or we might be out
Supper - Wowie Maui Chicken

Friday

Breakfast - cereal and fruit
Lunch - Orange Raisin Biscuits * and fruit
Supper - Calzones and salad

Saturday

Breakfast - Over Night French Toast
Lunch - Orange Raisin Biscuits * and fruit
Supper - Italian Turkey Skillet and veggies

Breads
Oatmeal Bread~

Winnipeg Rye Bread

French Bread ~

Cinnamon Raisin Bread (From Bread Bible on sidebar)

Whole Wheat Bread

Cookies
Oatmeal Raisin

Chocolate Crinkle

Loaves and Muffins
Tropical Muffins
Berry Oat Muffins
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins
Banana Oatmeal Muffins

Other

Chocolate Bottom Banana Squares

Mixed Berry Tart *

Orange Raisin Biscuits *

Pizza Sauce

* Recipe is from New Cook Book, Limited Edition "Pink Plaid" : For Breast Cancer Awareness (Better Homes & Gardens)

~ Recipe is from More-With-Less Cookbook (Plastic Comb) or More-With-Less Cookbook (World Community Cookbook) (Paperback)

Spray N Wash

I had to share this because so often I share my great deals, but I never talk about when I strike out.

Well, strike out I did this week.

On Saturday I was horrified to find that my Spray N Wash bottle was almost empty, and there was NO BACK UP! What??? Really??? Are you kidding me??? Have you seen my stash? I shoot for two back ups of what I use all the time for cleaning product so that I can pick it up cheap or free. So how in the world did a mommy of a 2 and a half year old miss that!

So, I decided I had some gift card money at Walgreens to blow (Mr. Pear has asked me to stop shopping there as our store is always sold out or not taking certain coupons or something, even following Money Saving Mom's advice and guidelines I run into trouble, so being the good wife I am, I was trying to use up the gift cards on decent sales). So I made my list, clipped my coupons, and went. The only thing they had was the BOGO Glade candles, which I got for free with a BOGO coupon after the cashier checked with the store manager because "that did not seem right to her", so I consoled myself by buying a homemaking magazine so that my balance was not zero, and used my gift card for the balance. Oh, and did you notice? THEY WERE SOLD OF SPRAY AND WASH!!! And it was NOT on special either!

So, on to my trusty CVS, and while I did do the P and G deal, there was NO SPRAY AND WASH, and it was NOT on sale there either! I was beginning to suspect that it was a conspiracy to make unprepared mommies suffer and shop all day from store to store! After all, I think toddlers are the test market for stain removers!

It was a dark day. I was walking across the parking lot to Pavilions prepared to pay Full Price, minus doubled coupon, on a cleaning product! And I was not optimistic they would even have any, but don't you worry, I was fully prepared to cry in front of the empty shelf!

So we get to the aisle.....

.....and find it fully stocked!

.....and find that it was on unadvertised special. Not the best sale, but not full price either (Regular $3.99 on for $2.49 minus a $0.50 coupon that was doubled).

.....I smiled happily, no tears required!

So in the end, while it was not free, the Lord knew what we needed, laugh included!

Oh, and to answer Crystal's question, this week I spent just under $60 to feed three adults and one child, including household products.

New Garage Storage

I am so thrilled with our new garage storage! We are very close to being able to park our car in the garage, and anticipate being able to do so by the end of the weekend if we all work hard! (Except for Miss Pear, who I anticipate will be playing nearby.)

I decided to share the story of our shopping around experience for garage ceiling storage for this week's Frugal Friday because I honestly did not expect the findings!

We have been talking about ceiling shelves for the garage since we moved in - they are basically shelves that hang from the ceiling. This is necessary in places like Southern California where we have no basements, and the houses have very little storage, and smaller garages (a two car garage does not easily hold two cars here unless they are both compact). So we have been comparing prices.

We priced out shelving at Lowe's (with a 10% off coupon), and we priced Home Depot (no coupon). Both stores required us to pick up the systems and install them ourselves.

I have to be honest, we were a bit hesitant to install these ourselves as we were going to be parking our car underneath, and it sounded a bit iffy to us.

So I started reading the fliers from storage companies.

I found a company who was fully licensed and bonded, with a fabulous reputation, who lived and worked in the immediate area! The clincher was the price. It was cheaper to have them deliver and install the racking than to do it ourselves! Plus they did the work two days after the quote was made!

So it pays to shop around, and consider all your options because while a do-it-yourself attitude can save you lots of money, it is not always the cheapest way to go!

Help for Cooking, Baking and Allergies

You may have realized that I am a closet Foodie. I love to cook, I love to bake, and I love to read cookbooks.

And I LOVE FoodTV - my favorite is Alton Brown!

And tonight his whole show is basically about adapting recipes to match allergies! The show is called "Sub Standards" I am intrigued by the Faux Peanut Sauce...

Well, that explains it....

A friend of mine just sent me this article: Grocery Prices See Biggest Jump in 17 Years

I have noticed that as last year progressed the sales at the grocery stores were not as good, and then I thought I noticed the prices going up too. But I definitely noticed when Costco raised their prices!

From talking to friends I would say that this trend noted for 3 southern California counties is probably true for all of Southern California.

It definitely encourages me to get better about finding the deals, about doing the best I can with what I have, making all our baking myself, and about managing leftovers better! It also encourages me to keep clipping those coupons and reading the fliers!

Are you noticing this trend where you live? What creative things are you doing to keep your grocery budget down?

Happy, Happy, Happy

How I feel today can be answered by a quote from Roman Holiday.... so happy!

As of about an hour and a half ago, we are the proud owners of ceiling rack storage in our garage. This means I can actually organize the garage! Which means we will be able to actually park the car in the garage AND safely defrost the freezer!

Really, it is the little things in life that make us happy!

Oh, and we finished covering Miss Pear's toy basket with Winnie the Pooh fabric this morning and repaired two picture frames. I am feeling most accomplished!

My MIL who is only here for another week and a half is making supper tonight, except for the rice that I will make (with the rice cooker - so not exactly tough!)

When nap time is over, we will be in the garage starting our work!

Oh, and in addition to Miss Pear's new favorite words of awesome, definitely and excellent, she added a new phrase yesterday.... "Well, actually....."

Redeeming Freezer Burnt Meat

I LOVE using my freezer to make meal time easier, and even swap freezer meals with two friends of mine.

However, when we moved in the late spring, our freezer did not get defrosted, just tossed on the truck for the 2 hour drive. It needed to be defrosted.

Then in the fall, the door did not close quite right, but was quickly found. But it needed to be defrosted.

Then there was all that hot weather, and our freezer is in the garage. And IT NEEDS TO BE DEFROSTED!

But where it is requires the garage to be organized before it can be defrosted safely, and we are having ceiling shelving put in tomorrow (I found a deal where it is cheaper to have a pro do it than to do it ourselves!).

The whole point of this story is that a pocket of frost developed where I could not see it, and has all but wrecked a couple packages of stuffed chicken. Rather than toss it, or feed my family shoe leather, I will be cooking it up and dicing it up, removing the tough sections (this is easier once the chicken is cooked), then freezing it by using the zip top bag method (each bag will have 1 cup).

So that takes care of the chicken, but 2 steaks also got touched. Yuck! So I put pepper steak and tacos carne asada on the menu for this week. Even though these are meals that I would not normally use this cut of meat for, it is a good way to use it up as it is not fit for barbecuing now!

Now the best tip would be to not let this happen, but things happen, so I am very happy that I am not going to lose this meat, and that it will still be usable!

(Oh, and I do not anticipate this happening in the future as I was given a FoodSaver for Christmas...but still, I will use zip top bags for a lot of stuff, and this can always happen!)

However, managing to not throw out expensive cuts of meat always works for me!

Next up in the series, apparently in no particular order:
- Planning your shopping, prep and cooking
- Storing your meals revisited and revised
- Keeping track of what is in your freezer and what is the oldest
- Freezer lunch stash complete with ideas
- Freezer breakfast stash complete with ideas
- What little I know about having a group of friends who share freezer meals
- Books and resources I love
- Successfully freezing cookies and baking
- Answers to questions you post for me or email to me (email button is in my profile).


Previously in the series:
Introduction to the series
Why Freezer Meals?
My Usual Method
Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Pesto Butter and Chicken Cordon Blue
Chicken Enchiladas
Kitchen Day - Tortilla Soup and Enchiladas (How To)
Blessing of Freezer Meals
Lazy Lasagna - A Freezer Meal
Sauce for Freezer Meatballs
Pineapple Tuna Cracker Snack
Freezer Cooking with Limited Space
Orange Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry
Orange-Apricot Glazed Pork Chops
Converting your Casserole Recipes to Freezer Recipes
Converting your Meat Recipes to Freezer Meals
Triple Chocolate Cookies
Bacon-Macaroni Bake
Once A Month Freezer Cooking Simply Explained
Planning Your Freezer Cooking Shopping Session
Zip Top Bag Method
Italian Sausage and Tomato Sauce
Menu Planning
Freezer Cooking Online Resources
Asian Beef Kabobs
Honey Mustard Chicken
Swapping Meals with a Friend
January Swap / Orange Teriyaki Chicken
Freezing Cookies

Free at Pavilions Monday and Tuesday

(possibly later on into the week too, but I am not certain, and only if your store doubles.)

Wishbone Salad Spritzers are free after the coupon from a November insert, or the one from this past week.

Ragu Pasta Sauce buy 2 and use $1.00 off 2 from this weekend's paper (I also had an older coupon)

Barilla Pasta Plus Spaghetti buy 2 and use $1.00 off 2 from last week's paper

Welch's Squeezable Grape Jam using $0.75 coupon from last week (if you don't like grape, the strawberry will be $0.50 with this coupon)

Dove Invisible Solid Antiperspirant/Deodorant using coupon from this week's paper

Glad Scented Oil Candles Refill using printable from either SmartSource.com or Coupons.com


And while it is not free, there are two other good deals:

Yoplait Yo-Plus yogurt is $0.50 after the $1.00 coupon from this week's paper is doubled, so that is a respectable 84% off.

Wish-Bone salad dressings, if you buy 2 and use the $1.00 off 2 coupon from either the November insert or this past week are $0.50 each, or 86% off.

Happy Shopping!

P.S. These are confirmed for Pavilions, Safeways, and Vons in California. They will likely be in other places too as they often are, and all three stores are the same company with the same prices.

Menu Plan Monday January 12-19

Saturday

Breakfast - Waffles~, Strawberry Syrup and Whip Cream
Lunch - Soup and Toast (Home made multigrain bread)
Supper - Southwest Chicken Soft Tacos

Sunday

Breakfast - Cereal, toast, fruit
Lunch - Leftover Soft Tacos
Supper - Orange Teriyaki Chicken with rice and veggies

Monday

Breakfast - Granola Oatmeal
Lunch - Chicken Packets
Supper - Wowie Maui Chicken and salad

Tuesday

Breakfast - Granola and Yogurt
Lunch - Chicken Packets
Supper - Leftover Ribs with Sweet Potato Fries

Wednesday

Breakfast - Cereal and fruit
Lunch - Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Supper - Pepper Steak and Rice


Thursday

Breakfast - Granola and Yogurt
Lunch - Out for Tea - taking Chocolate Cookie Dough cheese ball and graham crackers
Supper - Sweet and Sour Chicken over Rice (I will be making extra chicken to freeze for a full blown Chinese food night at home)

Friday

Breakfast - cereal and fruit
Lunch - Maple scones
Supper - Tacos Carne Asada and salad

Saturday

Breakfast - Maple Scones
Lunch - Leftover Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Supper - Probably leftovers....

Breads
Oatmeal Bread~

Winnipeg Rye Bread

White Sandwich Bread(From Bread Bible on sidebar)

Cinnamon Raisin Bread (From Bread Bible on sidebar)

Whole Wheat Bread

Cookies
Oatmeal Raisin

Chocolate Crinkle

Loaves and Muffins
Tropical Muffins
Berry Oat Muffins
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins
Banana Oatmeal Muffins

Other
Can apricots using this method

Chocolate Bottom Banana Squares

Mixed Berry Tart *

Orange Raisin Biscuits *

Pizza Sauce

* Recipe is from New Cook Book, Limited Edition "Pink Plaid" : For Breast Cancer Awareness (Better Homes & Gardens)

~ Recipe is from More-With-Less Cookbook (Plastic Comb) or More-With-Less Cookbook (World Community Cookbook) (Paperback)

Recovery Friday

Well, we made it through the week, and that was no small feat! It was a crazy week!

Monday I took my MIL for a blood test, which would not be a big deal, but I thought I kind of knew where we were going, but because I am geographically challenged, I checked the map on the office's site, and was so glad I did because according to the map, I was wrong. So we went to where the map says, and it was wrong, there was nothing by a tree covered hill. So we stopped and asked for directions, and it was exactly where I thought it was.....We got there and had the worst service ever, and my MIL had a huge raised welt/bruise after. Our other errands ran smoothly until a gentleman almost backed into us (literally slammed on his brakes and threw it in reverse!) and then glared at me when I honked at him because I could not back up quick enough! There was no accident, thank you Lord!, but we were done for the day and returned home. Except that after nap time we needed groceries, and nothing was where it should be, and we were over charged and had to return to the store for a $17 refund.

Tuesday was a wonderful morning of BSF and evening of having our neighbors over for supper because the husband was away on business.

Wednesday we had a meeting with our financial planner, which went well, but always leaves me mentally drained.

Thursday morning we got caught up on all the house work. Thursday night we went to a hockey game. Mr. Pear was given ticket and a parking pass from work. It was so much fun!

It was a fun week (except maybe for Monday (-: ), but I am very happy that it is Friday. Today we recover from the week - the cleaning is done, and supper is in the slow cooker! Miss Pear is napping, and that sounds great to me!

If you need a good laugh to start your weekend off right, might I recommend clicking here?

The Toys are on Sale!

My dear neighbor was at Target this morning, and reports that the TOYS ARE ON SALE! The average discount seems to be about 50%, but some are more and of course some are less. I asked if this was just the usual 1 row of clearance and was told no, it was at least 6 aisles!

So, if you have birthday's and occasions for littles coming up, might I recommend a Target run?

Famous Chili

When we were first married and in a strange country in a strange state (U.S. and California respectively), we joined a small group in an attempt to find community. It worked wonderfully! And a long the way we found some fabulous recipes! One man in the group made the absolute best chili, and it was his own somewhat secret recipe - as in it was only in his head, not written down!

He has since passed away, I remember going to his funeral hugely pregnant, and we have since cracked the code on the chili recipe!

Famous Chili

2 pkgs ground turkey (or 2 and a half lbs ground beef) browned.
Season with a bit of salt and pepper while browning.
2 onions, diced (I like to fry them up with the meat)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cans of pinto beans, rained and rinsed
2 cans of kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 cans of crushed tomatoes
2 green peppers, diced
1 cup chopped celery
Chili Powder to taste - about 2 tbspish
Salt and Pepper
1 bunch of cilantro (about a fist full of stems), chopped, leave the stems out.

Put all ingredients except the cilantro in the slow cooker. Cook all day on low, or all afternoon in high.

Add the cilantro for the last half hour of cooking.

Serve with cornbread (preferably over the cornbread), shredded cheddar cheese, more peppers and onion, and if you want, sour cream.

Freezing Cookies

I bake cookies by the double batch around here, I have a family of cookie monsters who I love, so this helps a lot! And because I have a secondary freezer that is NOT frost free, I can freeze baked goods for a fair bit of time! If you have a frost free freezer, and leave them too long, funny tastes develop.

I was just starting to think about guidelines for how long I can keep cookies in the freezer when I picked up Cooking Light in December (Free at CVS, really, I needed it to get up to $15 so I could use my $5 off $15 coupon!).

Any way, according to Cooking Light, cookie dough for drop, rolled, sliced/icebox, and hand shaped cookies is good in the freezer for 3 months. (2-3 days in the fridge) They do not recommend that you freeze twice baked or bar dough though.

As for baked, well, all baked cookies are good in the freezer for 3 months.

As for packaging baked cookies, I just put them in a plastic tub (Rubbermaid, Tupperware, no name, whatever is the right size and fits) and pop them in. If they are delicate cookies I will layer them with wax paper.

Cooking Light also says that baked cookies are only good for 3-5 days at room temperature, so it is a good idea to freeze your cookies and then refill your cookie jar from the freezer! The cue for an empty cookie jar in our house is the lid left off, that way I know!

As for the 3 month marker working...I couldn't say, cookies don't last that long around here.

What is your family's favorite cookie recipe that you have to make in double batches?

Next up in the series, apparently in no particular order:
- Planning your shopping, prep and cooking
- Storing your meals revisited and revised
- Keeping track of what is in your freezer and what is the oldest
- Freezer lunch stash complete with ideas
- Freezer breakfast stash complete with ideas
- What little I know about having a group of friends who share freezer meals
- Books and resources I love
- Successfully freezing cookies and baking
- Answers to questions you post for me or email to me (email button is in my profile).


Previously in the series:
Introduction to the series
Why Freezer Meals?
My Usual Method
Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Pesto Butter and Chicken Cordon Blue
Chicken Enchiladas
Kitchen Day - Tortilla Soup and Enchiladas (How To)
Blessing of Freezer Meals
Lazy Lasagna - A Freezer Meal
Sauce for Freezer Meatballs
Pineapple Tuna Cracker Snack
Freezer Cooking with Limited Space
Orange Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry
Orange-Apricot Glazed Pork Chops
Converting your Casserole Recipes to Freezer Recipes
Converting your Meat Recipes to Freezer Meals
Triple Chocolate Cookies
Bacon-Macaroni Bake
Once A Month Freezer Cooking Simply Explained
Planning Your Freezer Cooking Shopping Session
Zip Top Bag Method
Italian Sausage and Tomato Sauce
Menu Planning
Freezer Cooking Online Resources
Asian Beef Kabobs
Honey Mustard Chicken
Swapping Meals with a Friend
January Swap / Orange Teriyaki Chicken

Pavillions Freebies

These 4 deals are good for today and possibly tomorrow.

I did not include them in my list from last night because I was not able to get them for two reasons. One deal were out of stock in my store, one size was not carried in my store, and two deals were missed because as a Mac user I still cannot print coupons from SmartSource.com!

Rice-A-Roni Natures way is on sale 10 for $10. If you go to Smart Source and print the coupon for $0.50, and your store doubles you can get one for free!

Pure Protein High Protein Bars are on 10 for $10 and there was a coupon for $1.50 off 2 in the paper this past week, so if you buy 2 for $2 and your store doubles, there is a chance they will pay you overage unless they limitted their computers, which they some times do, but worst case is they will be free!

Purell Instant Hand Sanitizer , the 2 oz is on for $1.99, and there are both $1 coupons and $1.50 c0upons out there, so if your store doubles, you will get it for free.

Chinet Cut Crystal Cups, 25 ct, are on 2 for $4, and SmartSource has a $1 printable coupon, so if you buy one, and your store doubles coupons, it will be free.

Pavillions Deals

We went shopping at Pavillions today, and there were some great sales! So if you have a Safeway, Pavillions, or Von's near you, it is worth a trip.

These deals are good until at least Tuesday night, most until Wednesday and I think a couple were good even longer. These deals were great because our store doubles up to $1.

Rice-A-Roni - 10 for $10 with $0.50 off 2 coupons from the paper so 2 for $1

2 General Mills Cereal (Cheerios or Lucky Charms) for $5 - $1 coupon for $3 total
Plus 2 Nature Valley bars 2 for $5 minus $0.75 coupon for a total of $3.50, and because you bought 4 of these they take another $4 off, so 2 Cereal and 2 Granola Bars for $2.50

Quaker Old Fashioned Oats 42 oz. on for $2.49 minus $0.60 coupon from paper for $1.29 each!

Softsoap Liquid Hand Soap 10 f0r $10 minus $0.35 doubled coupon

Tyson Chicken Strips BOGO for $3.99 minus $0.55 coupon doubled, minus $0.55

Yoplait yogurt 10 for $5 with $1 off 8 coupon and $0.40 off 6 coupon, both coupons doubled

Yoplait Yo-Plus Yogurt $2.50 minus $1 coupon doubled.

Frigo Cheese String $3 each minus $1 coupon doubled.

Kleenex Antiviral $1.50 each minus $0.40 coupon doubled.

There were other good deals, but there were the best ones. I spent $25.90 for $107.76 worth of groceries.

Four potential Freebies I was not able to get are listed here....

A New Year, A New Card and Gift File

This is my last post in this little mini series, and believe it or not, this is my best kept secret.

Except for the couple months after our daughter was born my cards are always on time, I don't forget, and I don't miss occasions.

My friends are always shocked, and impressed.

But the secret is, I make my computer work for me!

I have all birthdays and occasions in an online planner with reminders set for two weeks to a month ahead of time, depending on what is appropriate, and I look each Monday (other times too, but I make a point of Mondays).

I have an Excel file with 4 workbooks in it for Christmas Presents, Christmas Cards, Other Presents and other Cards sorted by date and recipient and includes item, cost, store, if I bought it, if it is wrapped, where I hid it, and if I shipped it.

While it is a big job the first time I set it up, now with each new year I save it under the new year, clear out last year's cards and presents, and it is all set with names and dates pre-filled, waiting to be filled with cards and gifts purchases all over again. It saves me from running to the store at the last minute, and wondering who in the world I bought that for!

Possibly over the top, but it really does work incredibly well for me!

Menu Plan Monday January 7-12

It has been almost a month since I played along for Menu Plan Monday, and while I missed it, I had a wonderful Christmas season! But now it is the new year, and back to organized neat orderly business!

We have a crazy week planned with something every day - except Friday which I have named Recovery Friday!

So in lieu of my usual full menu with baking plan, here is the short version! (Full version to return next week!)

Breakfasts this week will be variations of cereal, toast, fruit, yougurt and granola!

Lunches will be assorted sandwiches such as grilled cheese, tuna salad and chicken salad.

Suppers

Monday - Farmhouse Chicken and veggies
Tuesday - Stuffed Shells with Salad and a Mixed Fruit Tart (company for supper)
Wednesday - Orange Teriyaki Chicken with rice and veggies
Thursday - Date Night
Friday - Tacos Carne Asada and salad
Saturday - Pizza

A New Year, Time to Slash and Burn

I use this old phrase, slash and burn, to describe how I go though my paperwork this time of year.

It seems to always creep up on me, little piles that need to be filed, sorted, and purged.

While I work through this on a regular basis, the first week of January I am RUTHLESS!

I use an old adage from my purchasing days - when in doubt, throw it out!

Out go old recipes that I am not going to try, papers for things I am not really interested in any more, notes that I replied to that I am not keeping (I only keep a special few and all from my husband). I throw out old receipts that are not needed. I file everything I am keeping away. And then I do the hardest part. I throw out the Christmas cards that are not from immediate family or pictures (after making sure I have updated addresses of course!). This one always hurts, but it serves no purpose to keep them even though I enjoyed them tremendously!

And even though this normally applies to my attitude towards paper, often when I get into a "toss it out" mood, it overlaps into other areas.

Although I find the hardest thing to throw out is recipes I have printed or clipped from magazines that I had thought I wanted to try, but now will not likely. I have no idea why!

What is the hardest thing for you to toss when it comes to taming the paper tiger?

Don't Buy That Cookbook!

If you have been reading around here for long, you may have caught on to the fact that I love to cook, and bake, and generally play in the kitchen.

Which means that when I actually watch TV, which is rare, I often tune into the Food Network! Recently I had borrowed the cookbooks of a few well known chefs on the Food Network from a friend as I had some Christmas money I could use to buy one. I discovered something shocking.

Out of the roughly 25 recipes I was dying to try from one cookbook I was able to find about 21 of them for free on the Food Network's web site, which is free! I will be copying the remaining 4 recipes from my friend's book. Upon further investigation, this held for a lot of the chefs!

The only glaring exception I found was Alton Brown's I'm Just Here for the Food: Food + Heat = Cooking.

Also, it used to be that to peruse Cooking Light's recipe archives you had to have the code from the most recent edition of the magazine. Not so any more! My Recipes features Cooking Light, Southern Living and a few others!

Just a little tip to save on cookbooks but still get the great recipes!

What are some of your favorite online sites for recipes?

What cookbook could you simply never do without?

January Freezer Meals Prep

On Saturday I will be swapping freezer meals with my regular swap partner and also another friend, so it will be six meals!

This morning I made everything up!

I am making Mexican Meatloaf, but am freezing it raw so that it is a thaw and cook kind of meal, and it looks excellent! We will be having it for supper tonight! But because it is cool here today, and the oven always heats up the house, and I have a sweet potato recipe I would like to pair it with, I will be cooking it for about 2 hours in the oven at 350F.

I am also taking Orange Teriyaki Chicken from Dont Panic - Dinners in the Freezer: Great-Tasting Meals You Can Make Ahead.

Which I am also sharing this week for:



Orange Teriyaki Chicken

1/4 Cup soy sauce
3 T chopped onion (can substitute 1 1/2 T minced onion or 1/2 tsp onion powder)
2 cloves minced garlic
1 T olive oil
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp red pepper sauce
1 - 6 oz can orange juice concentrate
8 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Cooking Day - Mix all ingredients except chicken. Place chicken breasts in freezer bag and pour marinade over chicken. Freeze using Freezer Bag method.

Serving Day - Thaw chicken breasts. Grill 4-6 inches from the heat source for 35-40 minutes. (I will probably use the oven at 350F)

Next up in the series, apparently in no particular order:
- Planning your shopping, prep and cooking
- Storing your meals revisited and revised
- Keeping track of what is in your freezer and what is the oldest
- Freezer lunch stash complete with ideas
- Freezer breakfast stash complete with ideas
- What little I know about having a group of friends who share freezer meals
- Books and resources I love
- Successfully freezing cookies and baking
- Answers to questions you post for me or email to me (email button is in my profile).


Previously in the series:
Introduction to the series
Why Freezer Meals?
My Usual Method
Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Pesto Butter and Chicken Cordon Blue
Chicken Enchiladas
Kitchen Day - Tortilla Soup and Enchiladas (How To)
Blessing of Freezer Meals
Lazy Lasagna - A Freezer Meal
Sauce for Freezer Meatballs
Pineapple Tuna Cracker Snack
Freezer Cooking with Limited Space
Orange Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry
Orange-Apricot Glazed Pork Chops
Converting your Casserole Recipes to Freezer Recipes
Converting your Meat Recipes to Freezer Meals
Triple Chocolate Cookies
Bacon-Macaroni Bake
Once A Month Freezer Cooking Simply Explained
Planning Your Freezer Cooking Shopping Session
Zip Top Bag Method
Italian Sausage and Tomato Sauce
Menu Planning
Freezer Cooking Online Resources
Asian Beef Kabobs
Honey Mustard Chicken
Swapping Meals with a Friend

A New Year Brings A New Cleaning Schedule

One of the things I frequently hear my friends feeling overwhelmed by is the house. Cleaning it, tidying it, keeping it from looking like a hurricane blew through or an earthquake hit. And while I do have days where stuff does not get done (Like the whole week between Christmas and New Year's - yikes!) for the most part I keep caught up enough to not be caught in a jam.

While we often have some degree of clutter around the house - toys being played with, projects in progress and actively being worked on, etc - our house is clean, and everything has a place.

Okay, so technically I did create my cleaning plan in the fall and all the links can be found here, but the truth of the matter is that I made a number of fine tuning changes and additions so I would not forget things, so I am updating my copy and printing it all out again. No matter how good your cleaning list, it will need to be re-evaluated and updated as life and schedules change! For instance, I still do not know why mending is not on a laundry day - it will be now! And I had to add reminders to take the garbage to the curb as one morning dash was quite sufficient to get the garbage out before the truck arrives at about 7:45AM!)

And while it is a bit of work, it is worth it because having a master list with everything on it really helps me get going and stay on track! It also means that:

• I don't get caught with a disaster of a house on my hands when unexpected company pops in
• I never end up taking on the front step because I am too embarrassed to open the door all the way (although there is a great bench out there!)
• I can always invite someone over for coffee or supper with out worrying what we will walk into or how I will tidy and clean in time
  
• I can find what I am looking for (in a timely manner....)
  
• I never have to hunt through the house for clean clothes for my family as the laundry is done
  
• I don't waste time trying to figure out what needs to be done, or where to start, I just open my book!
  
• I have time to play as it does not take me long each morning!
• I am not wasting weekend time trying to get caught up because everything is done!

While I cannot perfectly follow the list every day, after all, I am a mom now, but if I miss it this week, you can be sure I get it next week, and it really does help!

How do you keep on top of things around the house? (I could always use a few tips!)

New Year Bible Reading Plan

I have to confess, I am still casting around for a Bible reading plan that works for me.

Before I was a mommy I would start in Genesis and plow through to Revelation, hopefully finishing on or before December 31, and most years I was successful. This gave me an excellent overview of the Bible. The only thing I did not like about it is that I had to wait until about September to be in the New Testament.

Then I began reading an Old Testament book, a Wisdom Book, a Gospel, and an Epistle before beginning again. And that worked fairly well too, but I did not have that "read in a year" focus, so I don't think that I read as frequently or as much.

This past month I started another plan that has me read 4 chapters a day with the Gospels being read more than once, so I will let you know how that goes. But reading a chapter in Genesis, a chapter in Ezra, a chapter in Matthew and a chapter in Acts each devotional time was making me feel like I was channel surfing through the Bible and was way to discombobulating! So now I am starting with a chapter in Psalms and then reading 4 chapters. In my 4 chapters a day I will first read Genesis (OT book) then read Luke (Gospel) and then read Acts (NT Epistle) before going back and reading Exodus. Once I finish Psalms I will read Proverbs before again returning to Psalms. I have discovered that I am the kind of girl who needs to just spend time in one place at a time in the Bible to be really enriched by what I am reading!

If you are new to the faith or to reading your Bible your goal may be one chapter of the Gospels a day all year, thereby getting a solid understanding. It may be reading through the New Testament this year.

The best Bible reading advice I have ever received, aside from, "This is your Bible, your manual for life, READ IT!" was to pray before I started reading, asking the Lord to teach me something new, to show me a new aspect of Him and of His plan for me, and then write it down.

But whatever your plan, may I encourage you to make a plan and stick to it?

What is your Bible reading plan for 2008?

Sale on Ebooks at Biblical Womanhood

Did you hear that Crystal is having a big sale on her ebooks at her site until midnight tonight?

Her ebooks have been a big help to me, particularly Secrets to Supermarket Savings and the class package for Supermarket Savings 101 which is deeply discounted!

A New Year, A Fresh Start

There is something about the New Year that gets me going. And I cannot figure out exactly what it is.

But on January 1 we do the same thing each year.

We watch the Rose Bowl parade, and take down the tree - usually by this time all the other decorations are gone except for the Christmas tree and Christmas serving plates and table linens that I will use tonight still. (I pack these in the open first/pack last box that also has our Christmas books and music!)

I make a big brunch, which we eat while watching the parade. The menu is always the same:

• Waffles
• Strawberry syrup (home made of course!)
• Whip cream (with icing sugar and vanilla)
• Sausages

Supper will be Ribs, sweet potato fries and a salad (only the salad type varies).

It is our tradition, a nice quiet day.

But when I wake up on January 2 it is back to normal. Everything from Christmas is put away and all the new stuff has a home. Sure there might be little projects to be done (like putting a shelf in the built in to hold more of Miss Pear's books), but vast majority is done.

So I am not starting the year behind, I am giving myself every advantage to be off to a good start for the year!

When do you put your decorations away?