1-3-10

Sitting here browsing the sales fliers. Here are some deals I see this week...
I don't have coupons to match to the sales included as I am a little
behind with those due to the holidays.

KROGER

-Buy 3 participating Kellogg's products get 2 gallons of milk free.
So be on the lookout for coupons for those cereals and bars.
They are 3 for $8.00 or $2.67 each.

If no coupons are used then it would cost $8.10 for 3 cereal and 2 gallons of milk.

Big K 2 liters are .59 cents, regularly .79 cents so save .20 cents

12 packs of Kroger Macaroni & Cheese $3.99, making it .33 cents a box

Kroger peanut butter $1.00

Rice-A-Roni $1.00

Gorton's Fish Fillets $3.49 ($4.99 at Meijer)

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

MEIJER

Milk $1.79

Pork Shoulder Bone in .99 cents a pound

Campbell's Select Harvest Soups .99 cents

Coffee Mate Flavored Creamer .99 cents

Fresh & Soft White Bread .78 cents

Buy any 4 General Mills Get $4.00 off at register

6 Double Rolls Cottenelle Toilet Paper $2.79

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

ALDI

Milk Gallon $1.59

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

WALGREENS

10 pack socks $3.99 regularly $6. Makes each pair .39 cents

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

Here are some sites for cheap cooking...

THE 99 CENT CHEF

He takes food found in dollar stores and creates recipes with them.
http://the99centchef.blogspot.com/

$5.00 DINNERS
I have also found this book at the library.
http://www.5dollardinners.com/recipes/recipe-index

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

And some books that may be of interest.
Now's the time to catch up on the reading during the Winter month's
with being cooped up indoors.

When everything gets back to normal around here
I might make a trip to the library to catch up on some reading.
All can be found at the Columbus Public Library...Reserve the books
as they are not all found at one location! By reserving them they
will find the books at different locations and gather them up for you.
Then they will drop them off at the location of your choice for
you to pick them up.

-Frugal Families

-Frugal Gardener

-Shop, Save, and Share

-Square Foot Gardening

-Frugal Living For Dummies

-Cheap Talk With Frugal Friends

-The Use-It-Up Cookbook

-Extraordinary Meals From Ordinary Ingredients

-Baking Soda, Over 500 Fabulous, Fun and Frugal Uses

-The Complete Tightwad Gazette (great book!)

-Miserly Moms

-Miserly Meals

-Cheap, Fast, Good

-America's Cheapest Family

-Shop Smart, Save More, Learn the grocery game

-Cook Once, Eat For A Week

-Once-A-Month Cooking

-Living Well On Practically Nothing

-Make-A-Mix

-The Complete Cheapskate

-Clean House, Clean Planet

-The Starving Student's Cookbook

-Make It Last

-Help It's Broken, A fix-it bible for the repair impaired

-Yankee Magazine's Living Well On A Shoestring

-Thrift Score

-Greatest Secrets of the Coupon Mom

-How to Save Money Every Day

-$5 Dinner Mom Cookbook

-$3 Meals

-Bargain Hunters Secrets To Online Shopping

-Good Deals And Smart Steals

______________________________

MY thoughts for today.

One thing I can't stand...

People who go over and beyond their living expenses to pretend to be
someone they are not. So many people I know are like this!
Don't make enough money to afford things but yet want to act like
they make lots of money. They have luxury items while bills go
unpaid, you can't eat a decent meal and so on.
How can you really be happy to pretend
to live a fantasy life. Never judge a book by it's cover!
And just because you don't have the funds to buy those
extra fancy outfits or game systems doesn't make you a lesser person.
Life is not about what you own. Those are material things.
It's about how you live life!
If people don't like you because of the true you then it's time
to move on and find real friends!!!
It's when you try to be something you are not and lead others into thinking
you are something completely different that pisses me off. In a way it's like
lying to people.

And here is another thing....

When parents cater to their kids helping them out every time they need something.
I'm talking about grown kids, out on their own. Sometimes there are legit situations that do need help.
I've seen this situation too many times. Kids run into situations at fault of their
own, whether it's run ins with the cops or buying stupid crap and can't pay their bills. It's ok to do it the first couple of times. It's when you constantly do it that they are solely relying on their parents to help them out every time. That's when you need to cut back and stop it altogether!! They will never learn to figure out problems on their own if you don't! It's a hard thing for parents to do because they want to still feel wanted by their children. Ever hear the saying children learn what they live. Well if they live off your money even when grown then they'll never learn to be independent. If you can ween them off the bottle when they are babies you sure as heck can ween them off your money.

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

Vacation time for kids is almost over with! Woo Hoo. Time to get back to normal.
I'm so tired. Mom called and asked if I had a grocery list because she was going to Meijers tomorrow. I don't have a list but will tag along to see if there are any mark downs left from the holidays.

Right now I'm not doing any major grocery shopping. I'm trying to eat from the pantry and freezer. While you can get a good stockpile going you don't want things to go out of date and to waste. So being the first of the year would be a good time to rotate your stock and use up the older things. Right now I'll only buy what I need to, to use up what I have.

I think it's almost been a full year since I started couponing, woo hoo, I survived sticking with it. There have been times I have stopped doing it like over Summer break and Christmas break.
----------------------

Tonight's supper consisted of leftovers. We had ham and bean soup with cornbread and the kids had shredded pork over bread.
Any leftovers from these two are going in the freezer.

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

For all you crafters out there here is an idea of what to do with all those
t-shirts that are either outgrown or you have way too many of.
Make a t-shirt quilt. Use up those old t-shirts you got from
vacation, of your favorite sports team or ones from your
child's events at school. It will be something special
that could be passed down and held onto throughout the years.
It doesn't really have to be made with just t-shirts, use
any other clothes such as kids or baby clothes to remember
those special moments of when they were little!

Here is a twin quilt I made with t-shirts-- OSU, gray and red ones.
The underside is made from a twin sheet in gray and red colors.

Jonathan received it as a Christmas present this year.

While I cut and sewed it all together, mom took it to have a lady put in batting,
a binding and have it quilted altogether on a machine.




I'm still on the kick of watching all these advertisements on tv.
I saw a new one the other night. It was called Mister Steamy for
$19.99 plus postage and handling. But if you act now they will
double your order!
LMAO!!
What is a Mister Steamy you ask, well check it
our here for yourself
https://www.mistersteamy.com/?mid=570590
Mister Steamy is a dryer ball you add water to, to steam
the wrinkles out of your clothes.

In order for water to steam it has to reach 215 degrees.
A dryer can get up to a maximum of 140 to 180 degrees.
So as you can see on Mister Steamy you need to use
those bottles of Fresh Shot
that creates the steam. That's where they get you.
You would have to continuously buy those bottles to keep
Mister Steamy going.
I wonder what ingredients are in those bottles to make
it steam like that?
I had a Caruso hair setter that in order to get it
to steam I had to add salt to it. So maybe that is
the secret ingredient, I don't really know.

Save your money and don't waste your time with something
like that!
Try this home remedy instead and it's so simple to do.

Get a large towel, or even a wash cloth and dampen it with
water. Not too much water that it is sopping wet but wrung
out really good. Throw it in with your laundry that's been
sitting in your dryer forgotten about. Run the dryer
15 minutes or so and the wrinkles should come out.

Or what about a couple of damp tennis balls? They would
do the same thing.
Or what the call dryer balls.

Don't overload your dryer is another hint. Allowing the
clothes room to tumble properly without twisting around
one another keeps them from wrinkling too much.

They say dryer sheets are not good for your dryer.
They could cause a fire over time. A natural fabric
softener to use is vinegar in your rinse cycle.
You can also add drops of essential oils to it to give
it a smell.

There have been times when I would pull out a wrinkled
shirt or pants out of the closet. I would have a spray
bottle filled with water and lightly mist the garment
and run a hair dryer on it to loosen the wrinkles.

1-2-10

The day seems to be starting off pretty well, woo hoo!
Me and Tony got to sleep in which doesn't happen too often.

The bad, the mailman came early today so will have to
stop by the post office while running errands to get all my bills out.
Got those all filled out and ready to mail first thing this morning.

He did drop off a couple things of interest:
-$25 gift card for Kroger. You got two $25 gift cards when signing
up for a pharmacy research study. You get $25 now and $25 when it is over.
-a free 2 year subscription to More magazine. Don't know how I got this
but I like free.
Here is More's website...http://www.more.com/

Got lots of running to do...
-go pick up the 2 extra tires for the Suburban in Hilliard.
-Take game system back to Walgreens
-Take 3 in 1 printer back to Big Lots
-Go to Microcenter to see if they have the $33 printer.
-Drop bills off at post office
-Pick up prescription at Kroger
-----------------------------------------------

We've been looking around for a hood and fender for the Suburban. Our
favorite place to look for used parts is the junk yard called...
Pick N Pull
picknpull.com
2716 Groveport Road
Columbus, OH 43207
They are open 7 days a week from 8am to 5pm.
Sometimes they advertise on the radio half price weekends Friday to Sunday.

They list specials they have for each week. This week is 20% off all fenders.
Something we need but it can wait. I'm not walking around a junk yard
in freezing cold temps! Will watch Craigslist for one or will wait for warmer
weather.

Other junk yards we use are on the West side of Columbus:
Cantly's on Little Ave.
Edison's on McKinley Ave
Woody's on Mckinley Ave.

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

When you go somewhere such as Microcenter or any electronic store
don't assume that the sales people know everything.
Do any research yourself before shopping for certain items!!

I went to Microcenter and asked the salesman questions about the printer I wanted.
I wanted to know if the cartridges were refillable. He had no clue.
I asked if it was equipped with the computer chip that once you
ran out of ink and tried to refill it yourself it would not register
as full and you had to buy a new cartridge. He said they all had computer
chips on them so the printer could read them. Well no shit Sherlock I knew that
but what about this new chip that doesn't allow you to refill your own ink.
He had no clue or was bluffing me into thinking that he knew nothing about it.

They all were trying to sell me these 3 in 1 printers. Those are the culprits with
those cartridges that you can't fill no matter what due to the chips in them.
The 3 in 1 printers are dirt cheap now starting at $30. And the reason is that you'll end up spending another,$50 if not more, for the ink cartridges for it.

So why not go with the basic, plain Jane inkjet printers for around $35 then go to Big Lots and find an ink refill kit for $7.99 that should refill your cartridges 4-6 more times.
It's either $7.99 to do it yourself 4-6 x's
OR
$200 to $300 for the cartridges 4-6 x's.
If you are looking to save money do what I recommended!
I don't print too many photos and basically need my printer for coupons and rebates.
So it fits my needs well.

If you would like to read more about the non-refillable ink cartridges...

http://reviews.ebay.com/Lexmark-Inkjet-Printer-SCAM-Can-apos-t-Refill-Your-Own-Ink_W0QQugidZ10000000006653779

This seems to be a major problem with Lexmark.

This time around I bought a basic HP inkjet printer.


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

For all my Ohio friends...This song came to mind tonight and I had to change
the lyrics some so we could all relate to it...

Don't Let It Snow by Sherry

The weather outside is frightful
The ice is not delightful
And since we have places to go
Don't let it snow, don't let it snow, don't let is snow.

It doesn't show signs of stopping
crushed snow under tires is popping
The headlights just barely show
Don't let it snow, don't let it snow, don't let is snow.

When we finally kiss the ice
When we slip on it in the storm
I'll hold you really tight
pulling you down by grabbing your arm.

The car is slowly driving
as we are a slippin' and a sliding
But we are idiots in the snow
Because we live in o-hi-o.

1-1-10

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!

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

We stayed up to watch the ball drop at midnight then headed off to bed.

THEN wanna know how my morning started off!! Not good!
Banging my head on wall.

Ok if anyone knows my step-dad you know he's a little out there.
He doesn't know how to word things and takes everything a little too serious.
He doesn't get jokes and is a little slow.

He must have called from work, which is an auto parts store.
He knew we were wanting to sell our Expedition in the near future
and must have found a guy at work or a customer that was somewhat interested in it.
So my step-dad calls this morning and Tony answers. He asked how much we wanted
for it then the other guy wanted to know what was wrong with it.

Ok...now here is what I would have said....
We recently purchased another vehicle and the reason for selling this one
is that we wanted a vehicle that was more simpler than an Expedition which
is too fancy for us. We aren't familiar with the Tritan V8 motors and
wanted a simpler motor such as a 350 that we could do maintenance on ourselves.

Sounds plain and simple doesn't it when selling a vehicle. And I am telling
the truth!!!

When my step-dad asked what was wrong with the Expedition, Tony made the comment
that it was a money pit. AND DO YOU KNOW MY STEP-DAD TURNED AROUND AND TOLD
THE GUY INTERESTED IN IT THOSE EXACT WORDS!!! If you want to sell your vehicle
those are not the words to use!! Needless to say he hasn't called back saying the
guy wanted to come look at the truck. I WONDER WHY!!!! He should have just given the guy our number and let us do the talking. We could have stressed the good points of all the parts we replaced on the truck and made that one selling point.

Do you feel my pain as my head is banging against the wall??????!!!!!!

Anyone want to buy a money pit??? Hurry while you can!! I got people lined up!!
Perfect ride for the recession!!

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

We have invested approximately $1,000 in it since owning so that is the reason for Tony's comment. Hey someone out there could be getting a good deal in all reality
since we would be taking that much of a loss for repairs. We've already spent the money to repair it and are asking only what we paid for the truck to begin with.
And the truck sets on chrome 20's. That's rims for those that don't know about what I call hoopty mobiles. Those things are worth $1,000 plus alone! I'm sure my step-dad didn't mention those.



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

Had to make another run to Kroger today.
They have their Christmas things marked down to 75% off.
I even saw a few items more than that such as ceramic
serving plates that was $15 marked down to $3.
Wrapping paper, wrapping tissue and gift boxes were .50 cents.
This was at Karl Rd. so it may vary from each store.

Remember that place I said yesterday was a madhouse?
Well it still is! I swear we stood in line behind this lady that was checking out for what seemed like 30 minutes. I was able to catch up on all the star gossip and find out who's gay, who's gaining or losing weight and who's cheating who by reading them all from the magazine rack!!

Anyway she was Latino, had problems with speaking English and understanding what the cashier was telling her, was using food stamps and what appeared to be WIC. She didn't buy the correct bread and other stuff so the bagger and her younger daughter made about 3 trips around the store to find what they needed while we waited and waited in line!! AHHHH!!!

The Kroger at Karl is the only Kroger I know that sells PIG HEADS at times. You heard me correct, a freakin pig head!! I saw one, one other time and it was so gross to look at. Today they had 3 in the refrigerated case in the middle isle. Then the butcher brought out his rolling rack and had about 3 more getting ready to put them out. I know there are a lot of foreigners in Columbus that probably would swoop that up. But please tell me what you do with one such as cooking or eating it.
I'm not cooking anything that appears to be looking at me while basting it!!
I could see Tony's look on his face when he asks, what's for supper? And I say swine flu stew with a big ole pig head in the pot.

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

I got my boneless pork ribs with a can of kraut and a can of turkey graving
brewing in the crock on high. I'll let it cook for about 6 hours. Enough time to break down the meat fibers so it will be falling apart to the point you won't need a knife to cut it. Here in a bit I'll get a pot of potatoes boiling on the stove.
I threw in some extra meat to have leftovers for lunches for the next couple of days.
And I also have an extra can of gravy I left out of the crock. Kids don't like kraut so I will use that extra can for their gravy.

Watch these newer crock pots!
Most older recipes for crocks will say 2-4 hours on low or 4-6 hours on high. I have noticed my crock pots are cooking much quicker than those times.
I love my crocks and have had 3 at one time. I've had 2 different meals cooking at once in 2 of them. Planning ahead for meals and sometimes freezing precooked meals makes life sooo much easier. Plus having multiple crock pots going around the holidays to keep things warm is so nice for those dinner events.
-------------------

Was cleaning and tidying up cupboards and kitchen drawers when I found my all time
favorite icing recipe. It is quick drying, dries hard and be tinted with food coloring. I separate icing into small bowls and add different colorings to each one.
If I want to get detailed with cookies, I'll use a new small paint brush and brush on the icing.


WILTON'S QUICK POUR COOKIE ICING

5 cups sifted confectioner's/powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup light corn syrup
food coloring

Place sugar and milk in bowl. Stir until mixed thoroughly.
Add corn syrup and mix well. Add drops of food coloring, stir.

Let dry completely 1 hour. Excess icing can be reheated in
microwave for a couple seconds.
-----------------------------

It's 6:00pm and I got dumplings in the crock and potatoes boiling.
Supper is smelling sooo good.
-------------------------------

I erased everything I wrote earlier as I guess it wouldn't pertain to what
my blog is about, how we go about our daily lives of being frugal.
What I wrote earlier should be left personal with family and friends.
So if you wonder where it went, my dog ate it.

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

So here I am getting back on track with frugality....

Today we realized we were out of dishwasher soap. Had tons of dishes to
do with a full house. I grabbed a box of washing soda and added a couple
tablespoons of that to the tray in the dishwasher. It seemed to work until I go to the store to get some more. So if you are in a bind give this a try if you have any. And oh, if you are out of rinse aid, use vinegar instead.

I think I will head to bed. My body has been aching lately. I hope I'm not getting sick as it's only my back, hips, neck, and where your legs attach to your hips in your crotch area. Don't know what is up with all that but I keep moving trying to not let it bother me. Advil and the electric blanket helps! But ya gotta watch putting heat on some aches as it may only intensify your injuries. Read whether you should use ice or heat it may make a difference. For years I have collected a bunch of Home Remedy books from yard sales and thrift stores. They come in handy when you can't get to the doctor or don't have the money for one. They even have ones for pets. You can also search home remedies online.
Here are few you can explore:

http://www.home-remedies-for-you.com/

http://www.grannymed.com/

http://www.natural-homeremedies.com/

http://kitchen.robbiehaf.com/PetHomeRemedies.html

12-31-09

I hear, but have not been myself to see, that Target is offering 75% off Christmas items.
----------------------------

I saw on Big Lots website more clearance items from Christmas at 30% off.

"30% Off Our Already Low Prices On Christmas Gift Sets*

Includes:

* Food, Bath, Fragrance & Cosmetic
* Popcorn Tins

* Limited to Christmas themed merchandise only. Selection varies by store.

More great clearance items include...

* iRobot® Roomba®
* Select Frame Sets
* Select Camcorders
* Select Toys
* Select Apparel Items
* Select Books
* Select Video Game Titles

Check with your local store for assortment and availability while they last!"

Also at Big Lots be sure to sign up for their Buzz Club member card.
I know yet another little plastic card to carry around, don't ya just hate those things!

Here is how the Buzz Club works"

Just have the cashier scan your Buzz Club™ Rewards card every time you shop. Make 10 Qualifying Purchases of $20 or more within a 12-month period and earn a 20% discount on a future purchase. Discounts are good for 60 days from the date you earn them.
---------------------------

I've been doing the Pinecone Research surveys online and getting my $3 checks for each one. I think I made about $15 this past month by doing them. Not much but puts some gas in the car!

This morning AC Neilson sent me a $5.00 survey. That was the first time they sent
me a paid survey like that.

Do your research to find the legit surveys.
-------------------------------

Think I'll head back to bed for a few before kids get up. Then have to go
get a temp tag for the truck. It snowed overnight and covered the roads so
thankfully I won't have to go very far to do it.

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

I can't seem to get motivated. Don't know if it's the cold weather or what.
Sitting here trying to figure out what to fill out on the title before
getting a temporary tag. You'd think with as many vehicles we've had over
the years I would know how to do this. What worries me is if you fill out
any blank spaces wrong it voids the title out completely. You can't scratch
nothing out and correct it. I hope I'm doing this right.
Well time to get ready and head out. It's 11:41am. Time to also get a lookie
at the Burban in the daylight for the first time. Hope it doesn't scare me, lol.

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

It's 2:33pm and we just got home. Mom went with us.
It's the last day of the month and a holiday tomorrow. Not a very
good day to go places! Stopped by the BMV on Morse Rd. and kept on rolling
through that parking lot as that place was packed!! Decided
to head over to the one on Henderson Rd. It was busy but nothing like
Morse Rd.
Mom brought along her Entertainment coupon book so we could go out to lunch. We decided upon Donatos pizza since it was right by the BMV. I've been keeping watch as to how many coupons it takes to use from that book before it pays for itself.
It cost $20. So far here are the coupons we used and what we saved:

TACO BELL
$3.50 saved with these items free (buy 1 get 1 coupon)
2 Chalupas, 1 regular taco and a large drink

SUBWAY
$3.50 saved with buy one 6" sub get one free

Donatos Pizza
$2.00 off any large pizza

So far by using 3 coupons $9 has been saved.

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

Had to stop by Kroger today, ahhh. Didn't realize tomorrow was New Years
day as it snuck up so fast. I plan on making pork and kraut tomorrow but
realized I was out of potatoes.
First of the month at Kroger is a terrible time to go! It's so packed
full of people who are cashing welfare checks or getting food with stamps.
I assume that as the lines were long with overflowing carts and the service
counter line was long also unlike the rest of the month.

I will admit I have been on food stamps many many years ago so know what it's like.
But please tell me why the first of the month is such a busy time for stores???
I realize people get food stamps at the first of the month. Do people not
plan out their grocery lists well enough to last all month or more that there is a sudden urgency to have to go to the store when the stamps are issued again. Do you get what I am saying?
------------------------------

OTHER COUPONS AND DEALS FROM STORES

In Speedway I found coupons for
Buy 1 Get 1 Free (up to $1.49) Trident Layers

Kroger had a flier saying you get $5 off when your purchase $25 or more
in participation Proctor and Gamble items all in one transaction. Check yellow tags!
Good til 1-10-10.

-Tide - Bounce - Downy - Charmin - Bounty - Puffs - Dawn - Febreze - Swiffer -Iams - Pringles - Pampers - Luvs -Duracell - Pur - Braun - Crest - Oral B - Scope - Glide Floss - Align - Vicks - Metamucil - Prilosec - Pepto - Clearblue - Pantene -
Head & Shoulders - Herbal Essence - Aussie - Gillette - Nice 'N Easy - Perfect 10 -
Root Touch Up - Natural Instincts - Secret - Old Spice - Tag - Olay -
Cover Girl - Always - Tampax - Zest - Ivory - Safeguard - Venus
------------------------------

I finally got a few pictures taken this morning of the Suburban
before hurrying off to do things.
We paid $3,450 BELOW Kelly Blue Book value so got a heck of a deal!
I just realized today that 3 of our vehicles are 1999, lol.
It needs a good cleaning on the inside. The guy
even gave us a new can of cleaner for it, lol.
Told you it looked like a 4x4 limo.







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

Oh my goodness! If you can find your own backyard mechanic to work on vehicles I would highly suggest it. Or get ya a repair manual and learn the basic things yourself. Tony said his work took in a company truck to Goodyear to get front brakes repaired along with a brake line. Cost $2,200!!! It's not my truck but it's the thought. Where do these companies get off charging you these outrageous prices!!!
We took our truck there to get 4 coil packs put on. The charged us $90 a coil pack times 4 is $360!! And that didn't include labor! I found new coil packs on Ebay from Canada for $80-$90 with shipping for all 8 coil packs. Who's screwing who in this world!
If you can find a mechanic that will allow you to buy the parts and put them on then all the better. Not too many of those though. But look how much you could save!!
ALOT!

12-30-09

THERE'S NOTHING LIKE A COLD POP FIRST THING IN THE MORNING!
AHHH! THAT REALLY HITS THE SPOT!


No she's not really drinking my pop. I was snacking on a piece of my quick bread this
morning with powdered sugar on top. I put a little piece on the straw to make it
look like she was drinking out of my cup, LOL! See the powdered sugar on the table?
Kitty has a sweet tooth and was lured by the sugar. Had to do this a couple times to get the right shot. She tried to bite the straw to get at the small piece of bread.
-------------------------

I made up my sausage last night for jerky and it's marinating in the fridge.
I used 2 pounds of it.

It's 1:39pm and I just got the sausage pressed out onto the dehydrator. It smells
good! My jerky press has 3 different attachments, flat, and 2 round ones, so I used all three to experiment with them.




Today's supper will be ham and bean soup.
And here it is ready to go at 4:16pm:


Found this recipe off Bigoven.com and might give it a try or use what I have on hand for it. I'm gonna throw it altogether in the crock pot instead of using the stove top. Precook potatoes ahead of time as I haven't had much luck with getting raw potatoes to cook through in a crock.

Oh everyone, especially Tony, loved last nights leftover supper.
Sometimes I get more comments on things I make with leftovers
than the suppers I make normally, lol. Some things seem better
the second time around.

Best Ham and Bean Soup

When I was a cook in a restaurant years ago, this was our best-selling soup. One taste and your family will agree it's a winner! --- Mary Detweiler, West Farmington, Ohio

Ingredients

* 3/4 pound fully cooked ham cubed
* 1 medium onion chopped
* 2 cloves garlic minced
* 2 Tablespoons Butter
* 2 cans (16 ounces) great northern beans, rinsed and; drained
(I have a large jar of a mixture of 7 beans)
* 3 cups chicken broth
* 2 cups water
* 1 cup peeled diced potatoes
* 3/4 cup diced carrots
(I have a can of slice carrots to use)
* 3/4 cup diced celery
* 1/4 teaspoon pepper
* 1/2 cup frozen peas
(I'll probably leave these out)
* 2 Tablespoons minced fresh parsley


Preparation

In a 3 quart saucepan, saute ham, onion and garlic in butter until onion is tender.

Add the next seven ingredients; cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Add peas and cook for 5 minutes. Add parsley and serve.

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

***FREE TACO***


For anyone interested in a Free Fresco Taco Bell
you can go here and print a coupon.
http://static.tacobell.com/drivethrudiet/coupon.html

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

My friend Kendra and her husband Dewaine stopped in today.
I gave them their Christmas gifts. She and hubby are into
Tigger, Eeyore and Teddy Bears so I have been collecting
them throughout the year. I also found her a pasta roller
that's she been wanting ;0)






They also brought me a baseball fan. We both saw it come across
Freecycle today and she lived closer to where it was and
got it for me. She is sooo nice! Jonathan was all smiles
when he saw it! CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS WAS FREE! I LOVE FREEBIES
OFF OF FREECYCLE!
I priced this thing online between $128
and $144.00!!!!!!!!!



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

Everyone has been favoring my homemade Snuggie robe that has no sleeves. I'm
guilty of wearing it a few times when Jonathan doesn't. Now today I see Damien wearing it while lounging on the couch trying to be cute. I fanned the front of
it out to show everyone how much fabric is on the front. It's just like having a blanket on. The backside is the same way. Still thinking of a name for it.
What about a RONCHO. Sound funny but it combines the word Robe and Poncho.



Wouldn't you know it late last night while stopping in the gas station for gas
we see two girls leaving the store wearing Snuggies. That's a little much. But
now that I think of it those would be great to store in your car for emergencies in
case you broke down in the Winter time.

Woops Jonathan busted me wearing his robe poncho, lol.


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

Tonight we ended up purchasing a 1999 Chevy Suburban 4x4.
This sucker is BIG! I think you could put a full size couch in the back of
it with no problem and close the doors! We took it through a car wash as it was dirty with salt. Can't wait til tomorrow when I can see the truck for the first time
in daylight. I usually don't recommend buy a vehicle in the dark but we had no other time option since it gets dark around 5pm. We did our best to take the truck
to a lit parking lot to look it over and also carried flashlights to look under the hood.
No pics yet as it is dark. This pic below is not ours but looks just like it.


Typically you don't get these extra items when purchasing a vehicle from
a private seller so these things were a bonus when we got this truck...

2 extra tires, this does not include the full size spare tire. So I guess
a total of 3 extra 16" tires.

Then comes all the warranties with the new parts he put on.
He said to call him or write him via email if something goes wrong
with these parts. He appeared to be the manager of a repair shop in
Hilliard. Won't say which shop but it is well known around the US.

1 year for water pump
90 day for flywheel
2 year full replacement on battery
lifetime brake pad warranty. He said if they go bad we can bring them
to where he works to get for free.
1 year distributor
lifetime spark plugs
not sure on the ball joints but they were just replaced and have some
kind of warranty with them from Napa.
I'm thinking there was one on rotors also because he said he replaced them
with new.
------------------------------

At bedtime I made Tony a cup of ham and bean soup. I jazzed it up with
some sharp shredded cheddar on top, added a little salt and pepper.
Well I thought it was pepper at the time. I have a McCormick
pepper grinder and the grinder I grabbed was cinnamon. I was grinding
away into his mug and was thinking, wow this pepper is a lot easier
to grind tonight. That's when it dawned on me I put a bunch
of ground cinnamon in his mug, LOL, WHOOPS. You can see the cinnamon
specks on the sides of the mug and in it. LOL!

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

I am not a coffee drinker. I love my pop! Don't know what possessed me tonight
to get a toffee cappuccino at Speedway, it just sounded good. In my lifetime I've probably had 3-4 cappucinos, the first one ever drank was in New York about 12 years ago. It gave me a caffeine buzz. I recommend the toffee flavor. It was mild coffee flavored so it was just right for me. Now I sit here at 11:07pm just finishing my cappuccino, WHEEE!
Don't recommend drinking one just before bedtime, LOL. Hey maybe there will be some
more good movies on for me to watch.
Do you ever notice that in the middle of the night it seems they play the good movies, While You Are Asleep! Why is that??? Then during the day you can't find anything to watch on 100 channels to chose from! You get up in the morning and
can either choose from infomercials or news to watch. Those 'as seen on tv' ones are a joke! They never do what they claim.
Like magnetic arm wraps, lol. Who's gonna climb a ladder with a pipe wrench and hammer magnetized to their arm? I sure as heck ain't standing under them when they give way due to gravity! I told Tony I could imagine him walking through his maintenance shop with one on his arm and nut, bolts, razor blades,nails and screws all start darting towards him off the shelves like a full blown attack, LMAO.
Or what about these commercials to loose weight. Duh, if someone can't figure out the before and after photos then the jokes on them. Look at their shoulders in the before. They are droopy. Then the after photo they are sucking in their belly standing tall. Give me a break! Oh but I lost 10 pounds in one week. Yeah right. What'dyall do take a big ole crap, or should I say a $5.00 foot long as Jonathan puts it. The kids say the darndest things!
Let's see while I am on a roll what other as seen on tv things there are...
Oh yeah the ear audio amplifier that looks like a blue tooth. You can hear birds far away remember the lady strolling through the park and the guy eavesdropping on 3 women who think he's hot. So corny but great for the next stalker out there. Then they show it at a sporting event. Wonder how loud that thing sounds when the guy next to you is yelling or screaming when the team makes a score????
Here's another one that is a bunch of bull if you ask me. Buffalo bull that is.
They advertise a pure 24 karat buffalo gold piece. No such thing! If you fell for that you need to do your research! Think about it, you have 10kt, 14kt and 18kt gold jewelry. Never 24kt. Why??? Pure 24 karat pure gold is too soft to use it by itself!! Then notice in their advertisement it says CLAD. What is clad you say. When metal such as gold is bonded to another metal similar to gold plating. Soooo it's not pure 24K gold!! Be careful how they word things before buying anything!!
And pause the dvr and read those little itty bitty letters on the bottom of the screen for 2 seconds!! That's where they get ya!

I could go on and on about all the infomercial scams on tv but it's late
and I'm heading to bed to watch tv. If you really want to try something off of
tv wait for it to hit yard sales or thrift stores for a much cheaper price and you won't loose out on the original money someone spent on it to find out it didn't work!

Can ya tell the caffeine buzz is kicking in, lol, BLAH BLAH BLAH...BLAH...BLAH.
At least when my buzz crashes I'll be in bed ready for it.

Nighty Night.

12-29-00

Well I am attempting to get the rest of the living room/dining room picked up. I've let the kids play there since Friday with their new toys and now it's time to go and have my living room back. I'm feeling claustrophobic! Need air, need space, need room to roam! I am a one man (woman) band doing this. If I myself don't do this who knows where things will end up!

I think my New Year's resolution this year will be to declutter and weed crap out of this house! The less things you have the less likely your house will look messy!
I feel as though I fight a losing battle around here with keeping things clean, organized and picked up. We opted for a smaller house with smaller utility bills so there is no room to have any extras of things that don't get used. It will be a lot of work for one person I will tell you that. Hubby works all day and if I get kids to help weed out toys then nothing will ever leave. So it's solely up to me.
To make things go faster and better for me I find that taking things to a drop box is a plus. Trying to sell things, waiting for Kidney Foundation to pick them up once a month or putting them on Freecycle just puts me behind when I could be going full speed. Plus by taking them to the drop box helps me to declutter knowing the good items won't get thrown away and will be put to good use by someone else.

You could take your unwanted items to Salvation Army or other thrift stores and get a receipt for them. Keep track of every donated item and the market value in a notebook possibly with pictures. You can use these items as a tax deduction.
Here is a guide to donating items and what you need to do...
http://taxes.about.com/od/deductionscredits/a/CharityDonation.htm

Salvation Army has a donation value guide to help you figure out what your items are worth.

http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/www_usn_2.nsf/vw-dynamic-
index/D477340FFA28755C8525743D0049D1EF?Opendocument

Here is one for Goodwill in PDF format...

http://docs.goodwill.org/alfresco/d/d/workspace/SpacesStore/36cf5260-0bd6-4eea-acfb-8a80e3e014b0/Donation_Valuation_Guide.pdf
----------------------------------------

It's 2:46pm and the living room/dining room is almost done other than vacuuming.
I can breath easier now, at least with this part of the house anyway.

Now sitting here deciding what to have for supper.
I have leftovers that need used up in the fridge:
ham
black olives
shredded cheese
mushrooms
spinach dip
cream cheese
peaches
eggs
tomatoes
sweet orange marmalade preserves
crushed pineapple

This is where you have to get creative, lol!
What would you make with all this.
(no peeking below before you answer)

Whip together omlettes with leftover spinach dip instead of milk.
Add in cheese, ham, olives, mushrooms, tomatoes and
maybe a little bit of my bell peppers and onions that I have in the freezer.
I have the milk, veggies and meat covered in this main dish.

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

If you have a big family that wants different things in their omelettes
here is an easy way to make them.
Set all toppings out on the counter.
Give everyone a zip loc sandwich bag and crack open 2 eggs in each one.
Have them go around and pick and choose about a Tablespoon of each of their favorite toppings and insert them in the baggie.
Zip up baggies and then have them squish it altogether.

Bring a medium-sized pan of water to a heavy boil.

Drop Ziploc baggie into the boiling water. Boil for 5 minunte.

Carefully, remove baggie from the water. Open the bag and roll the omelette onto a plate.

-------
Back to my supper for tonight,
Now for the bread, fruit and more milk to get all the food groups in...

I found a banana quick bread made with bisquick BUT I will change it
to use what I have on hand. I could make this and serve on the side of
the omelette and wallah, leftovers used up! Oh yeah my big
box of Bisquick cost me .60 cents. So I needed to find something
to put that to use also instead of it sitting in the pantry.

So here is my version of a PINEAPPLE PEACHES AND CREAM QUICK BREAD.
See how easy it is to change recipes into something different!

Ingredients:

* 1 cup granulated sugar (I used 3/4 cup)
* 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, room temperature
* 2 ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup mashed)
(I used 1 cup peaches and 1/2 cup pineapple. I beat the peaches up with the blender so it was half pureed and half chunky)
* 2 eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 cups biscuit mix
(I also added 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg)

Preparation:
In a large mixing bowl, cream sugar and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Beat in mashed bananas, the eggs, and vanilla. Stir in biscuit mix just until ingredients are moistened. Pour into a greased 9x5x3-inch loaf pan. (I also floured my loaf pans on top of greasing them) Bake banana bread at 350° for 1 hour, or until wooden pick comes out clean when inserted in center. Cover with foil the last 15 minutes of baking if too brown. (didn't cover with foil) Cool banana bread before slicing.

I added a sprinkling of powdered sugar on top before serving.

It's in the oven now.
And if it's as good as licking the beaters, I can't wait. Yummy!



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

I am also considering making some beef (sausage) jerky.
Found sausage on sale so opted to use that instead.
Might make and put in fridge overnight.
Still need to dig my dehydrator out of the basement and clean it up.
Got that free off freecycle years ago.

GROUND BEEF JERKY

1 1/2 to 2 lbs. extra lean ground beef
1/3 c. soy sauce
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 tbsp. brown sugar

Mix all ingredients together in a good sized mixing bowl. Use your hands to make sure the seasonings are evenly distributed throughout the meat. Refrigerate the mixture for at least a couple of hours or up to 24 hours for a stronger flavor. Roll the meat out in strips or patties and dry in 150 degree oven with the door ajar for 4 to 8 hours.

Drying time will vary depending on humidity and the fat content of the meat. Once removed from the oven jerky is cooled and stored in an open container to allow drying to continue. Seal the container to prevent further drying. Store in refrigerator or freezer.



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

Here are some good coupons to print out:

Special K Buy 1 Get 1 Free cereal
http://www.specialk.com/

Coupons.com
be sure to print these now as it's almost the beginning of
a new month so coupons will get rotated or have a different
expiration date.

I myself could use the cereal coupons, bisquick coupons
and cookie (mixes or premade) coupons.

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

Well this evening me and Tony went to look at a 1999 Suburban
he saw on Craigslist last night. It was in Hilliard.

I'm tired of the 1999 Expedition. You can't work on it yourself
and gets quite costly taking it to a shop like GoodYear.
You can't even change your own spark plugs in this thing.
To take to a shop and have 8 spark plugs replaced costs around $300!!

I want something we can work on!!! We've been looking at Chevy's with
a 350 motor. Now even I can work on those, lol.

We liked the truck, the price was good, it ran good, it's 4x4 and has a 3 row seat.
The owner is a mechanic at a well know shop so he has put a lot of new parts into
this truck already which is a plus for me knowing I won't have to have these
things repaired:
new brakes, water pump, head work, distributor,plus, wires, cap, rotor, rear main seal, flywheel, starter, battery, balljoints, pitman arm.
PLUS he said the front 2 tires will need replaced and will be giving us
a set of tires also!!
Talking about tires, I did see another thing I liked very
well and that was the spare tire road on board inside the rear of the truck. Unlike the Expedition which has it's spare mounted underneath the truck.
Oh yeah and I asked the guy if the Suburban's key had a chip. NO! Woo Hoo.
The Expedition's key is a chip key and is like $200 or so to get 2 made because of it!! And that was cheap one after making a few phone calls. We averaged a price quote of around $300 for everyone else!
A chip key has to be programmed to the truck if you need a replacement key.
So don't lose those keys if you have one!!
The bad which is only cosmetic and something I can overlook and possibly
fix with junk yard parts is that the truck hit a deer. That shouldn't be
a problem considering this body style ran from 92 to 99. It has a dented fender on the passenger side and a little crumple on the hood where it does not close even on the one side. So if we wanted to get a new fender or hood I'm sure we could.
Oh well. The truck is basically getting purchased as a car hauler so I'm not worried about it as long as it runs good. I just don't want to put anymore money into the Expedition and haven't been too happy with it. Probably put $1000 in it and haven't had it a year.
Oh the truck has had a stereo put in it. We were test driving it in the dark when something in the truck caught my and the kids eye. The front of the radio was changing colors from green to blue to red to orange. That was different, lol.
As long as a vehicle runs good I overlook the radio or if it has one. It's a bonus if it does! One can always be put in for cheap. That's least important to me. But anyway this one does have a radio/cd/mp3/Ipod stereo in it. But hey if the radio is missing in a vehicle you're looking at point it out to the owner for a price drop.

Looks aren't everything when used vehicle shopping. It seems like the prettier they are the more expensive they are to fix. Research and find something where the motor doesn't look like it's been compressed into a shoe box. Some vehicles have even gone as far as putting the batteries inside fender wells where they can't be seen.
If you can't see where the spark plugs are located and have easy access to them then it's probably not worth it unless your loaded with money. But if you are the do-it-yourselfer finding ways to save money, go for the simpler motors like the Chevy 350 V8 Vortex and not the Ford Tritan V8!! Tritans have the power just like a 350 but forget working on it yourself unless you have your own shop.
Gosh I'm talking like I know about cars/trucks, LMAO. I know a few, lol.
I'm a Tomboy at heart and could be found underneath a car any day getting dirty.



Supposed to go give the Suburban another look over tomorrow evening and if everything
goes well we'll be bringing it home.
Here is a picture of what it looks like. Just a pic I found online not of the
exact truck as I didn't have my camera with me. This thing is bigger than
the Expedition!!
Looks like a 4x4 Limo. I told Tony I want to put TAPS in yellow letters on the back window, lol. Ok for those of you who don't know what TAPS is, it is show of Sy FY called Ghost Hunters. They run around in black trucks that look similar.

12-29-00

Well I am attempting to get the rest of the living room/dining room picked up. I've let the kids play there since Friday with their new toys and now it's time to go and have my living room back. I'm feeling claustrophobic! Need air, need space, need room to roam! I am a one man (woman) band doing this. If I myself don't do this who knows where things will end up!

I think my New Year's resolution this year will be to declutter and weed crap out of this house! The less things you have the less likely your house will look messy!
I feel as though I fight a losing battle around here with keeping things clean, organized and picked up. We opted for a smaller house with smaller utility bills so there is no room to have any extras of things that don't get used. It will be a lot of work for one person I will tell you that. Hubby works all day and if I get kids to help weed out toys then nothing will ever leave. So it's solely up to me.
To make things go faster and better for me I find that taking things to a drop box is a plus. Trying to sell things, waiting for Kidney Foundation to pick them up once a month or putting them on Freecycle just puts me behind when I could be going full speed. Plus by taking them to the drop box helps me to declutter knowing the good items won't get thrown away and will be put to good use by someone else.

You could take your unwanted items to Salvation Army or other thrift stores and get a receipt for them. Keep track of every donated item and the market value in a notebook possibly with pictures. You can use these items as a tax deduction.
Here is a guide to donating items and what you need to do...
http://taxes.about.com/od/deductionscredits/a/CharityDonation.htm

Salvation Army has a donation value guide to help you figure out what your items are worth.

http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/www_usn_2.nsf/vw-dynamic-
index/D477340FFA28755C8525743D0049D1EF?Opendocument

Here is one for Goodwill in PDF format...

http://docs.goodwill.org/alfresco/d/d/workspace/SpacesStore/36cf5260-0bd6-4eea-acfb-8a80e3e014b0/Donation_Valuation_Guide.pdf
----------------------------------------

It's 2:46pm and the living room/dining room is almost done other than vacuuming.
I can breath easier now, at least with this part of the house anyway.

Now sitting here deciding what to have for supper.
I have leftovers that need used up in the fridge:
ham
black olives
shredded cheese
mushrooms
spinach dip
cream cheese
peaches
eggs
tomatoes
sweet orange marmalade preserves
crushed pineapple

This is where you have to get creative, lol!
What would you make with all this.
(no peeking below before you answer)

Whip together omlettes with leftover spinach dip instead of milk.
Add in cheese, ham, olives, mushrooms, tomatoes and
maybe a little bit of my bell peppers and onions that I have in the freezer.
I have the milk, veggies and meat covered in this main dish.

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

If you have a big family that wants different things in their omelettes
here is an easy way to make them.
Set all toppings out on the counter.
Give everyone a zip loc sandwich bag and crack open 2 eggs in each one.
Have them go around and pick and choose about a Tablespoon of each of their favorite toppings and insert them in the baggie.
Zip up baggies and then have them squish it altogether.

Bring a medium-sized pan of water to a heavy boil.

Drop Ziploc baggie into the boiling water. Boil for 5 minunte.

Carefully, remove baggie from the water. Open the bag and roll the omelette onto a plate.

-------
Back to my supper for tonight,
Now for the bread, fruit and more milk to get all the food groups in...

I found a banana quick bread made with bisquick BUT I will change it
to use what I have on hand. I could make this and serve on the side of
the omelette and wallah, leftovers used up! Oh yeah my big
box of Bisquick cost me .60 cents. So I needed to find something
to put that to use also instead of it sitting in the pantry.

So here is my version of a PINEAPPLE PEACHES AND CREAM QUICK BREAD.
See how easy it is to change recipes into something different!

Ingredients:

* 1 cup granulated sugar (I used 3/4 cup)
* 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, room temperature
* 2 ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup mashed)
(I used 1 cup peaches and 1/2 cup pineapple. I beat the peaches up with the blender so it was half pureed and half chunky)
* 2 eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 cups biscuit mix
(I also added 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg)

Preparation:
In a large mixing bowl, cream sugar and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Beat in mashed bananas, the eggs, and vanilla. Stir in biscuit mix just until ingredients are moistened. Pour into a greased 9x5x3-inch loaf pan. (I also floured my loaf pans on top of greasing them) Bake banana bread at 350° for 1 hour, or until wooden pick comes out clean when inserted in center. Cover with foil the last 15 minutes of baking if too brown. (didn't cover with foil) Cool banana bread before slicing.

MY ADDITION:

Make a streusel using
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup marmalade preserves
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

crumble on top of bread mix before baking.

Don't know if this will work but will see :0)
It's in the oven now.
And if it's as good as licking the beaters, I can't wait. Yummy!


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

I am also considering making some beef (sausage) jerky.
Found sausage on sale so opted to use that instead.
Might make and put in fridge overnight.
Still need to dig my dehydrator out of the basement and clean it up.
Got that free off freecycle years ago.

GROUND BEEF JERKY

1 1/2 to 2 lbs. extra lean ground beef
1/3 c. soy sauce
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 tbsp. brown sugar

Mix all ingredients together in a good sized mixing bowl. Use your hands to make sure the seasonings are evenly distributed throughout the meat. Refrigerate the mixture for at least a couple of hours or up to 24 hours for a stronger flavor. Roll the meat out in strips or patties and dry in 150 degree oven with the door ajar for 4 to 8 hours.

Drying time will vary depending on humidity and the fat content of the meat. Once removed from the oven jerky is cooled and stored in an open container to allow drying to continue. Seal the container to prevent further drying. Store in refrigerator or freezer.



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

Here are some good coupons to print out:

Special K Buy 1 Get 1 Free cereal
http://www.specialk.com/

Coupons.com
be sure to print these now as it's almost the beginning of
a new month so coupons will get rotated or have a different
expiration date.

I myself could use the cereal coupons, bisquick coupons
and cookie (mixes or premade) coupons.