Another Week, Another Recall

I was reading over at Crystal's and over at Shannon's about these recalls, both have some great discussion in their comments sections, and I have to confess, I am a bit alarmed by all these recalls, many of them by reputable companies! Between the food recalls and the toy recalls, the sad statement preceding talk of recalls in our house is, "another week, another recall."

It is very sad.

I understand the pressure on companies to remain cost competitive, but what are parents to do when names we know and trust, that we grew up with, are letting us down?

Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes

I tried to make these this week without the cheese for my husband, and without the cheese they are nothing special, but with the cheese they are pretty good for a last minute meal idea when you remember after lunch that you have to run errands and you will not be home until exactly supper time!

Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes

2 lbs ground beef
1 medium onion chopped
2 stalks celery finely chopped
1 sweet pepper finely chopped
1 can condensed tomato soup
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste
4-6 hamburger buns

Brown ground beef and add to slow cooker along with the next 7 ingredients (up to, but not including, the cheese), mix well.

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours, high for 3 hours.

Reduce heat to low, add cheese and let cook for an addition 10 minutes.

Spoon mixture over hamburger buns - best served open face.

Cleaning Lists are FINALLY Updated

So you might have noticed two things, one is that I still insist on starting posts with the word "so" and I have no idea why, and two is that I have been feeling very behind on everything lately!

Well, I cannot do much about the "so" except to stop writing like I would talk, but that would make this blog very formal sounding, and that does not sound like fun.

As to the second, I thought about why I have been feeling this way, and to be really honest, one of the reasons is that I don't feel organized! I had not updated my cleaning plan since we moved and I had to change my days around, plus I had not implemented the zone cleaning plan I kept promising myself I would!

So yesterday while Miss Pear napped I did it!

I made up all new cleaning lists, I made up zone cleaning lists, AND I typed up my plans for schooling with Miss Pear and chores with Miss Pear.

Of course, to make up my lists I used my two favorite books for this very topic:

Sink Reflections: Overwhelmed? Disorganized? Living in Chaos? The FlyLady's Simple FLYing Lessons Will Show You How to Get Your Home and Your Life in Order--and It All Starts with Shining Your Sink!

More Hours in My Day: Proven Ways to Organize Your Home, Your Family, and Yourself

I feel so accomplished!

Now let's see if it helps!

Is anyone interested in seeing it or am I just silly to be so enthused about it?

Knit Knit Knit

I have been working on a beautiful afghan that is supposed to be a Christmas present for my parents. Actually it was supposed to be a Christmas present last year, but here we are.

It has been so hot that it has actually been too warm to work on it, even with the air conditioning on, so I have been knitting dish clothes. The logic being that I can tuck a couple dish cloths in with a copy of the pattern, sample of the wool and picture of the work in process afghan.

First I knit 3 cloths with the Chinese wave pattern (thanks to Jodi for the link)

Now I am finishing the fourth of Grandma's Favorite, the traditional one that you usually see.

But as soon as I am finished it, I am going back to the afghan full speed ahead to get it done!

Target Playdoh Deal?

Update: Thanks for your wonderful input - I am going to skip this one....The more I look at it, the less I like it....

I am trying to decide if this is a good deal, and if I REALLY want to have this to clean up.

Target has the Play-Doh Creativity Center on for $24.99



Which has had it's price drop by at least $5 in the last couple days.

But I also have a coupon that is for a free 24 pack of Play-doh when you buy the Creativity Center. It was priced at $20, but the price has just dropped to $10.

The coupon was in the Target flier/catalog in this week's paper.

What do you think? Good Deal? Do I really want all those pieces?

WMFW Backwards Day! Family Night

Today is another BACKWARDS edition of Works-For-Me Wednesday. Which I love! You all gave me such wonderful ideas and tips regarding starting to home schooling that I have to try again!

I am trying to make one night into a special family fun night. Our daughter is 2 and a half. And I am just looking for some fun and easy ideas! Preferably frugal too!

What do you do for family fun night? Or to do something special as a family Sunday afternoons?

Must Click Over NOW!

You all know that I love My Quiet Corner, and I am thinking that this week MomRN2 is READING MY MIND! I kid you not! I have know for a long time she is special, but this is exceptional!

The evidence for these wild claims?

Why, click here to see the Precious Promise she posted yesterday that I am convinced God intended just for me (and of course the couple other hundreds who read her blog and gazillions who read His word.....)

Then this morning, I raced like a crazy woman to get us to BSF on time - my hair was done but iffy, and I was in sweatpants and a t-shirt, and we were barely there on time! Then after a great class I am all blissed out about the Lord seeing my work, and doing my work as per Col. 3:23! And of course just as I get down to it because my daughter is napping blissfully, a car on the street has a car alarm go off that BEEPS IN INTERVALS! So I called the school trying to be gracious, but was really grumbling inside, but the secretary thanked me about 6 times, so I don't think she caught on that I was not really trying to be a good neighbor, I just wanted a bit more quiet. So I am internally grumbling just a bit at these rude parents at the school, and my good attitude is sinking fast.

But then I read my bloglines, and My Quiet Corner has a new post, so I click over and find this!

I laughed so hard I cried!

Good Mood Restored!

See, what did I tell you, I think she reads my mind!

Cleaning Dough Bowls

I love baking bread. Actually, I love baking in general. With our daughter's allergies we have taken to baking everything from scratch that we possibly can. I think we only buy tortillas, but those are next on my list to learn to make.

I love pulling out my Bosch and making breads, rolls, and other delicious stuff. But I don't like the clean up!

If I put the bowl and accoutrement's right into the sink the dough seems to turn to glue and clog up my scrub brush, and make my dish cloth a mess!

So I found a new method. I just put my bowl and anything else with dough on it to the side and let it dry - even 30 minutes is usually enough! Then I just flake the dry dough off with my fingers and dump it into the garbage.

Then I can clean my dishes without "dough glue" floating around!

It works so well that with the one hindrance to my baking joy removed I feel like baking more often rather than just making myself do it because we need it and I want to bless my family!

CBD Coupon

May I help you with your Christmas shopping, or just a couple books to read before Christmas?

Christian Books (over on my sidebar) has a new coupon out for 10% off your order of $35 or more!

Promotional Code: 251447AD
Expires December 19

Just enter it at check out!

Happy Shopping

Oh, and as always, we would appreciate it if you would click through our site to theirs!

Menu Plan Monday - November 3 - 10

We went to Costco on Saturday, and I decided that with the fruit, veggies, and milk we got there that we were done as the sales are a bit lackluster this week, so we are just making it up as we go along this week, using what we have on hand.

Saturday

Breakfast - Toast and Cereal
Lunch - Pizza Rice Casserole Leftovers
Supper - Garden Supper Casserole

Sunday

Breakfast - Overnight French Toast
Lunch - Pizza Rolls
Supper - Pepper Steak and Rice

Monday

Breakfast** - Toast and fruit
Lunch - leftovers
Supper - Hamburger Casserole

Tuesday

Breakfast - Granola and Yogurt
Lunch - Leftovers
Supper - Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes (Cdn Slow Cooker, pg 93)

Wednesday

Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Out with friends
Supper - Pasta


Thursday

Breakfast - Granola and Yogurt
Lunch - Tuna Sandwiches
Supper - Tortilla Soup and rolls (using fresh cilantro from our garden - for the soup, not the rolls)

Friday

Breakfast - cereal
Lunch - Chicken Packets
Supper - Taco Pie

Saturday

Breakfast - Home made bagels
Lunch - We are still not sure what are plans are for this weekend
Supper - BBQ Hamburgers

Breads
Whole Wheat Bread
Oatmeal Bread ~


Cookies
Mrs. U's gingersnaps
Chocolate Crinkles
Lemon Cookies
Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin
Granola Chips
Fruit Cocktail Cookies

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

Other
Granola
Granola Bars

~ from the More with Less Cookbook (can be found on my sidebar if you want to check it out) I am trying to cook through this cookbook a bit, so I am trying to make one thing a week from it but am really not being successful at that with all that is going on.
** During the week it is just Miss Pear and I for lunch, so we eat some strange lunches....

Shopping This Week

I have really been enjoying Money Saving Mom's Super Saving Saturday Series. There is something encouraging about having found a deal good enough to share, and to read other's stories as well! It is nice to learn from others and know that there are days you are not the only one struggling to do a better job with the funds of your household!

One thing I love to help me is stacking great coupons with sales. I was thrilled to realize that Vons/Pavilions/Safeways that are doubling coupons are actually now doubling everything, even if says do not double, up to $1! So we had some great savings there this week!

1. AquaFresh Toothpaste $1 minus $0.75 coupon, which is then doubled = profit of $0.50
2. Totinos Pizza Rolls 4 for $5 minus 3 x $0.50 coupons and 1 x $o.55 coupon which were all doubled so the final cost for 4 = $0.90
3. Alka-Seltzer Plus Congestion and Mucus cold medication was $3.99 - $3 coupon doubled up to 0.99 = free
4. Danon All Natural Yogurt 4 packs were $1.99 minus $1 doubled couponn = free
5. Doritos were the best price they ever get which is 3 for $4.98

Plus a lot of produce was on the 10 for $10 sale! Butternut squash was $1 a lb, so that was great. Oh, and we shopped on Tuesday, so I guess these were technically last week's sales.


A second place I love is CVS! I have been working at building up my extracare bucks to cover other stuff too, not just the extrabuck sales! This works great because occasionally you need something that is not on sale, but you need it NOW! That was the situation we found ourselves in. Miss Pear always has sensitive skin, but with her allergic reaction last week it is extra sensitive, so we are doing lots of oatmeal baths, and we were out and needed more! Thanks to our ExtraBuck savings, it was not a problem!

I had an ECB of $6.58 I had to use or it would expire, and a stack of others, so here is what we did:

4 x Soy Joy bars 4 for $4 minus 4 x $1 off coupons = free ($4 in ECB's)
2 x Colgate toothpaste 2 for $4.98 minus 2 x $1.50 coupons = $1.98 ($2 ECB's)
2 x Softsoap Body Gel 2 for $6.98 minus $1 coupon = 5.98 ($2 ECB)
2 x Aveeno Baby Soothing Oatmeal Bath for $10.58 minus $1.50 coupon = $9.08
2 x chocolate bars for filler = $1

Subtotal (after sales and coupons) = $18.04
Minus $4 off $20 coupon (it was before the coupons) = 14.04
Minus $2 off $10 coupon = 12.04
Minus $6.58 ECB that was expiring in 2 days = $5.46
Minus $5 ECB (Reason I needed filler) = $0.46

What messed up my planning is that my coupons would not scan, so they entered in all by 1 manually, and they showed up as CVS money, and therefore not taxable, whereas I had counted them as taxable, so I had to quickly buy 2 chocolate bars or be paying $4.50ish.

Oh, and I have $40 in ECB's left over from previous shops, and from this shop for future purchases. I am hoping to get a large bottle of the shampoo my husband loves there as we have a $4 of $20 for hair care, and now I can do it without taking a big hit on my ECB's to keep rolling. (I try not to drop below $15, but don't feel the need to use all of them every week, but I also don't let them expire).


A third place we stopped this week, today actually, was Costco. The gas there today was $0.21 cheaper a gallon than most other gas stations, the cheapest we saw other places was $0.15 more expensive a gallon. Seeing we were there it made sense to get gas too! :-)

I get a lot of my baking supplies there as their regular price for flour, sugar, brown sugar and yeast is better than any store sale, plus I get 2 gallons of milk for just slightly more than I would pay for one gallon of milk anywhere else! I also do better on meat there, but then again, this is California, so it is harder to get some of the good prices on stuff that is not nationally branded (plus I just get jealous I hear the national average on gas because we cannot even get within $0.50 of that price, usually it is almost $1 off. (We paid $3.09 a gallon this morning)

But the reason I bring up Costco is we found a terrific gift there! The COMPLETE set of Beatrix Potter Peter Rabbit was $27.99! We were thrilled!

P.S. If you not a regular reader to my blog, please click here for an inexpensive, easy way to provide comfort to those who lost their homes in the Southern California Wild Fires.

Comfort for the Southern California Fires

I posted earlier in the week about a church in Rancho Bernardo, San Diego, CA. One of the hardest hit areas by the fires last week. This particular church has 57 families who lost their homes which is a huge number. This is also a church that continually reaches out beyond their own walls to the community beyond!

One great ministry they have is called Tied in Prayer. This group is making comforting quilt squares to offer to the families who have lost their homes. They need people to make the quilt tops and then mail them to the church, they will do the rest! There are patterns on the website, as well as instructions.

This would be a great way to use up some of your quilting remnants!

Please pass the word on!

A Sweet Surprise

I have enjoyed reading Country Roads since before I started blogging. So when she had her 500th post contest I had to play along! The rules were simple, tell her your favorite post!

So I did - My favorite was when she did a whole post answering my question about sewing with little ones, and all her homeschooling posts too.

And guess what, I won!

So information was passed on and I eagerly awaited while reading how to beautifully wrap items that were in the package!

I was so thrilled when it arrive I forgot to take pictures! But true to Revee form, it arrived precisely when I needed the encouragement of a surprise!

Thank you so much Revee, it is a care package my whole family is enjoying!

Orange Cookies

Oh, one of my favorite things to bake! I try to always have a full cookie jar and refills in the freezer! A couple months ago I asked for Cookie Help! and some sweet readers gave me some excellent recipes!

In getting out of my cookie rut I found a great one!

Orange Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp orange flavoring
1/4 cup milk
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp grated orange rind
1 cup raisins

Cream butter and sugar together. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Add orange flavoring and milk.

Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

Drop by spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets.

Bake at 375F for 8-10 minutes.

Makes about 3 dozen


What is your favorite cookie recipe?

Printable Coupons Stick

If you have been reading here for a while you will know that I am trying very hard to make my grocery budget go further, even covering all our household expenses! I was even able to get all the canning jars I needed this year to fit into the budget! One of my tools is coupons both from the paper and printed.

I cannot tell you the number of times my printed coupons have stuck together! Usually I would catch it right at the cash register, but frequently I have arrived home and not noticed until I reviewed my receipt.

It is so frustrating!

But the fix is easy!

Just slightly crumple each coupon so that they cannot stick together! That way the cashier does not accidentally miss one!

This may be a silly little thing, but I have had a $4 coupon missed and not been able to get the money back!

Head on over to Crystal's for tips from the experts!