Search This Blog

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

12-1-10



7:30am

Heading to Kroger and the thrift store this morning.
Thrift store-
couple tops & pants for Jonathan, maybe another jacket.

Kroger-
Going to go ahead and get my baking supplies
for things I'll be baking for my goody trays or bags.

Here's what I've decided to make:

for Tony's work
(will package up in the paper lunch bags
a variety of everything for
each individual instead of a tray),

school
(will probably do the pretzel rod snowmen),

family & friends
(a variety of everything)

-Rice Krispies white chocolate peppermint bark.
-Pretzel rod snowman
-Turtle pretzel candy
-Chocolate toffee candy
-Nutella pocket cookies
-Mint chocolate dipped apples
(just for us since it's more perishable & I have
apples that need used up. Might enter in contest)
-Somoa spritz cookies
& probably some basic cookies
like cut out sugar cookies.

This is more or less a list for myself to stay
on track and know what I am doing around here, lol.
If I don't make notes I'll forget something.

---------------------------------------------

When making cut out sugar cookies I have found
this is the best icing recipe ever from Wiltons!!

When tinting icing with food coloring I
use the gel food coloring. The colors
are more vibrant than the liquid food colorings.

Poured Cookie Icing

Cookies look irresistible with a smooth coat of our Poured Cookie Icing. It dries to a shiny, hard finish and is also great for outline and fill-in decorations.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup confectioners' sugar sifted
  • 2 teaspoons milk
  • 2 teaspoons light corn syrup

instructions

Place sugar and milk in bowl. Stir until mixed thoroughly. Add corn syrup and mix well. For filling in areas, use thinned icing (add small amounts or light corn syrup until desired consistency is reached).

---------------------------------------------------

Spent about $51.00 at Kroger
and got a couple good deals with coupons.
I know I said I haven't been clipping coupons,
but when they are right there in the store
on the shelves or items then I'm gonna use them.

4 two liters Diet Mountain Dew
6 two liters Sierra Mist
.79 cents each when you buy 10
x's 10 is $7.90
minus $4.00 in coupons
made 10 bottles $3.90 or .39 cents each!!
Regular non sales or coupon price was
$1.29 each x's 10 is $12.90
so I saved $9.00!!
Some coupons I found at Speedway
and the others were hanging right
by the Pepsi 2 liters in Kroger!

10 boxes Krusteaz cookie mixes
$1.49 each when you buy 10
x's 10 is $14.90
6 coupons for $1.10 off ($6.60 off)
4 coupons for $1.00 off ($4.00 off)
made 10 boxes $4.30 or .43 cents each
regular non sales or coupon price was
$2.29 each x's 10 is $22.90
so I saved $18.60!!
Coupons were found in a blinkie machine
and on the boxes!

Other deals from Kroger

2 cans of pumpkin
reg. $1.39
marked down: .69 cents each

2 pkgs Won Ton wraps
reg. $2.99
marked down: $1.49 each

1 can Kroger creamed corn
reg. .50 cents
marked down: .29 cents

3 pkgs Cinnamon apple muffin mix
reg. .79 cents
marked down: .39 cents each

1 can Kroger beef gravy
reg. .79 cents
marked down: .39 cents

Plus other ingredients to make cookies
and candies
and ingredients to make a
broccoli cauliflower cheese soup.

TOTAL spent $51.00

That should cover 20 goody bags
for people at Tony's work.
Plus 2 classrooms at the kids school
with about 50 or so total kids.
Plus 10 friends & family.
So I think I did pretty good
to give baking gifts to about 80 people!!

THRIFT STORE

spent $15 and got

-bathroom rug
-mini NASCAR flag
-4 spools of gold ribbon
-Roush racing video tape with
score pad (new)
-The Sights & Sounds of Christmas video tape
-3 long sleeve shirts for kids
-4 pairs of pants for kids

The thrift store seemed wiped out,
meaning less things than usual.
I think it was due to their sale of 50% off
on the last Wednesday of the month
which would of been 1 week ago.
I wanted to find Jonathan another coat
but their selection sucked. So maybe another day.

----------------------------------------

First snowfall 12-1-10
8:15am kids heading to bus stop.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Today is the first day of Hanukkah!
Preparing to bake a pie? Try this.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

I almost forgot about this recipe
and might have to make some for Christmas.

These are really good. I have made them before!
.
Makes approximately 15 large cookies
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup dutch cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 large egg
1/2 tablespoon milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder and baking soda in a medium bowl.
Beat butte, sugars and peanut butter until well combined. Add egg, milk and vanilla. Beat well. Gently mix in the flour mixture about 1/3 at a time until incorporated. Form the chocolate dough into balls.

Peanut Butter Filling
1/4 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
Combine confectioners' sugar and peanut butter in a mixing bowl and beat until smooth.

Flatten each chocolate ball on the palm of your hand. Top it with a small round spoon of peanut butter. Carefully fold the dough sides over the peanut butter and pinch to seal. Roll into a ball and flatten on prepared cookie sheet.
Bake cookies in preheated 190 degree oven for about 8 minutes, until the surface begins to crack slightly. Allow 2-3 minutes before gently removing them to cool completely on a wire rack..


----------------------------------------------------

1:00pm

Had to share this story before laying down for a nap.
My package of 2 controllers for XBox 360 arrived
today from Ebay. Most people just crumple up
newspapers, use bubble wrap or packing peanuts.
As I unwrapped all the paper from the controllers
I saw that they used the coupon section of the paper,
woo hoo! And in it was another coupon
I have been looking for, for the
$1.00 off pistachio nuts. These are Tony's
favorite that I like to buy as a stocking
stuffers at Christmas time.
I thought it was funny as I just went through
some coupons of mine last night looking
for those pistachio coupons.
Who'd of thought I'd open up the
XBox controllers and find a pistachio
coupon sitting on top crumpled up, lol!
Kroger has them on sale for $3.99
minus $1.00 coupon
makes them $2.99.
I think they are regularly around $6 to $8.

ohhh and lookie I found a freebie coupon
for a free 7 function digital multimeter
at Harbor Freight.
And that coupon for an aluminum
lightweight racing jack will also come in handy.
Tony's been needing one of those.
Ya ever tried to haul around or pick up
a regular floor jack, HEAVY!!
Only I could be more excited about a box
with coupons in it more than 2 XBox controllers, LOL!
.
-----------------------------------------------

Check out the Northpole.com
where you can visit Mrs Claus' Cookbook

While there you can also send a letter to Santa!

Send a Letter to Santa

Santa really loves to get letters from boys and girls. They tell him if they have been naughty or nice and what they want for Christmas. I know Santa would like to get a letter from you. All you have to do is click on the inkwell on the desk and I’ll help you write your letter to Santa.

Once you have sent a letter to Santa, come back and check your mailbox by clicking “Santa Letter Pick-Up”. Santa answers every letter that is sent to him, but he has so much mail it usually takes him about two days to write back to you.

-----------------------------------------------------------

these are all from hip2save


Amazon is offering up some great music freebies! Every day through December 25th, you can go here and download a FREE Christmas song!

----------------------------------------------------------------

Nabisco is once again offering up a new cookies and milk coupon for the month of December– Save $1 on Nabisco cookies when you buy 1 package of Nabisco cookies AND one gallon of milk. This coupon can be found on the Nabisco Facebook page here thru 12/31 (or until 50,000 prints have been reached). The coupon must be redeemed by 1/14/2011.

------------------------------------------------------

Anyone looking to give a toothbrush for Christmas,
one of those fancy sonic kinds?
There are some on sale at Target til 12-4.
Sonicare Essence Electric Toothbrush on a price cut for $39.99 (down from $68.99!!)
Use the $10/1 coupon from the 11/21 SS or found here
Plus, stack with the $10/1 Philips Sonicare Toothbrush Handle Item Target store coupon found here
Pay $19.99
And then submit for the $10 rebate found in the 11/21 SS or refer a friend the rebate form here
Final cost ONLY $9.99!! *HOT* Price!

or here's another one found at Walgreens

Oral-B Vitality Power Toothbrush $10 off with in ad coupon

Buy 1 Vitality toothbrush $29.99 (based on online price)
Use the $10/1 in ad coupon
Plus, stack with the $10/1 coupon found in 11/14 RP
Final cost ONLY $9.99!

or I saw Walmart has some for
around $4.88 to $6
for the battery operated ones.
I was thinking about getting the family each one.

------------------------------------------------------------

Are you looking for a way to make use of the Buy one Olay body wash get one Olay hand and body lotion FREE (up to $7 value!) coupon found in the 11/28 PG? Well, you may want to head on over to Dollar General. Thru December 4th, Olay body wash 8.4oz is on sale for just $2. Check out how you can get a body wash AND lotion for just $1 each…

Buy 1 Olay Body Wash 8.4 oz $2
Buy 1 Olay hand and body lotion (up to $7 value)
Use the buy 1 body wash get 1 lotion FREE coupon from the 11/28 PG
Final cost only $1 each!

------------------------------------------------------------

This is what is for supper tonight:
The recipe didn't call for the cauliflower
but I'm adding in some also.
This recipe makes 12 servings
I will probably scale it to half.

I LOVE McDonald's Broccoli & Cheese soup
and that is what inspired me to make my own.

Broccoli & Cauliflower Cheese Soup

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 (16 ounce) package frozen chopped broccoli
  • 4 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
  • 1 (1 pound) loaf processed cheese food, cubed
  • 2 cups milk
  • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
  • 2/3 cup cornstarch (or you could use flour)
  • 1 cup water (or you could reserve 1 can chicken broth to use instead)

Directions

  1. In a stockpot, melt butter over medium heat. Cook onion in butter until softened. Stir in broccoli, and cover with chicken broth. Simmer until broccoli is tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
  2. Reduce heat, and stir in cheese cubes until melted. Mix in milk and garlic powder.
  3. In a small bowl, stir cornstarch into water until dissolved. Stir into soup; cook, stirring frequently, until thick.

* I put the broccoli & cauliflower in the
food processor before boiling in the pot.
*I doubled the amount of cheese.
*I added half slices of white
cheddar cheese to the top of soup when serving.
*I double or even tripled the amount
of flour & water as I wanted a thicker soup.
You could also use instant mashed
potato flakes as a thickener.
Now remember I halved the recipe above
when taking these notes into consideration.

This is one of those meals that is a comfort
food that makes you warm and fuzzy on
the inside on a cold day like today.

I have kids that probably wouldn't touch
broccoli or cauliflower so by putting it
in the food processor and making it
into tiny pieces they didn't know what
it was. I was happy knowing they got
a couple servings of veggies in them!

--------------------------------------------

.
Santa Claus & Snowing Purple Sky Christmas Images

Keep track of Santa daily to see what he
is up to!
NORAD SANTA TRACKER

-----------------------------------------------------------

from hip2 save


Land O’ Frost just released a high value coupon! Go here (and look on the upper right hand side) to print a buy one get one FREE Land O’ Frost Bistro Favorites coupon! You should be able to print 2 coupons per computer.

Bistro Favorites Varieties:
Applewood Smoked Ham
Applewood Smoked Turkey Breast
Black Forest Ham
Cracked Black Pepper Beef
Honey Glazed Smoked Ham
Roast Beef
Rotisserie Seasoned Turkey Breast

This would be good to get and put in the freezer

til Christmas. Around here our Christmas dinner

consists of mostly finger foods like:

ham & cheese on buns,

potato chips,

veggie, cheese & cracker tray with dip.


***KENDRA***

If you don't need this coupon would

you send me the printed 2 coupons??? Pretty please :0)

Not sure if I can even afford a ham this year,

heck I couldn't afford to stock up on turkeys.

So maybe I could get some ham slices instead.

--------------------------------------------------------


Tomorrow I don't have plans of going anywhere.

Have to stay home and do bills and rebates.

Might start working on Christmas cards also.

Don't that sound like fun, ughhhh!

Maybe I'll get the bills done tonight

and get that out of the way.

My water bill went down $5.00 for the past 3 month.

My car insurance went down $125.75 for this month.

Gas is pretty good at $43 with having the heat on

set at 70-72 degrees.

Electric bill I think was around the same as last month

I want to say around $70 to $75.

But I got notice from the cable company

that starting the beginning of next year it will

go up another $3.00. Now wondering how

to get cheaper cable but I want the DVR with it.

They were saying last night on the news how

many customers each cable company was losing

each year due to people going without cable

and/or using the internet to watch programs

or using Netflix.

Our health insurance will be going up another

$18 a month. We decided to add cancer

and stroke/heart attack to our policy which

is additional costs to be able to be covered.

When you are a smoker (me) and diabetic (hubby)

you want those two things!

We are also doing the 401K also, so more expenses.

But at least we'll be covered.

Better be safe than sorry!!


Another thing I have been thinking about

is asking the doctor to give me something to

help me stop smoking. We're supposed to

discuss it my next visit on Tuesday.

If I can quit smoking I was thinking about taking

that money spent on cigarettes each month and

applying it to our house payment.

And after doing some online mortgage calculators

I figured I could have the house paid off in

another 7 years in 2017!!

You've got to set a goal somehow with trying

to quit smoking and I think this is something to think about.

That would be taking a 30 year loan down to 9 years!!

I originally wanted it paid off before retirement age

because I don't think we could afford a house

payment with our social security.

I won't have much of a retirement due to being

a stay at home mom. I've only worked about

10-11 years total. Many people have to stop

living for the moment and start thinking

about your future and how you're going to

make it then.


-----------------------------------


7:35pm


Decided that since taking down the blinds

in the bay window and using regular curtains

across the front that I could make use of

that window space to display holiday items.

Next year was thinking about doing a town

scene with buildings, cars, trees and what not.

Who knows, if I find time I may change it.

..


About Me

My photo
My name is Sherry, 39yrs old, from Columbus, Ohio. I am married, a SAHM, and have 3 children ages 9, 10 and 20. I have been frugal/thrifty all my life. I would like to share on this blog how we get by day to day on one income with a family of 5 with a dog and a cat. You will also hear about my everyday gripes about daily life and the cost of living. Hubby says my favorite saying is, "and that is another thing that pisses me off!"

My Blog List