Dresser #1... finished

You know that thing I said about wishing I had endless amounts of time? Yeah. Still wishing. Which is why it's now a month later. And I have like two more sentences written of our story. And eighty-seven projects cluttering up my garage.

And so, I'm a bad blogger. :) With the weather now bringing just a bit of relief from the extreme and excessive heat (seriously, this was the first summer that I just COULD. NOT. TAKE. IT. Did you feel that way?), we are spending every waking moment outside. And I love it! Sassy runs off her energy (mostly), takes a fantabulous nap in the afternoon (usually), and then we're back out.

My floors are looking pretty sad, though. And the clutter... oh, the clutter! The inside really suffers when it's this beautiful outside.

Still, I'm taking full advantage of these early autumn cool mornings and comfortable afternoons to turn THIS:



into THIS:


Isn't she loverly? Perfect for a certain little girly girl's room. :) I painted it Valspar's "String of Pearls" (FYI: You can totally have it mixed at Walmart for half the price.), and if I had it to do over, I'd have taken the extra step of priming. I did not, and I think the final count of coats of paint was four... maybe five in a few spots. :)


I love the drawer pulls. Half off at Hobby Lobby made these beauties $2 a piece... woo!


Don't look too closely, though. It's most certainly not in "show room" condition. You might not have been able to see in the original picture, but there was some pretty obvious water damage to two of the drawers. I sanded the top drawer down as well as I could, then filled in with wood filler. The second drawer just needed a little wood glue and a clamp. Perfect? No, but I'm okay with that.


Let's just say it adds character, shall we?


I unintentionally added some "character" of my own. I used a clear glaze as the top coat, and there are some noticeable spots that turned a little yellowish. :(


And we have a spot or two of some glaze drippage. Oops.


I guess that "weathered" style will look nice with this mirror I'm thinking of hanging above the dresser! I found this pretty piece at a garage sale this summer, I believe for $1. It's Pier One... you can bet it wasn't a dollar in the store!


This is the bed I purchased for Sassy last summer for $15 at a yard sale. I touched it up with some white paint, but other than that, haven't done a thing to it. I LOVE the scrolly design on the headboard!


Her "big girl room" is a work in progress, but thankfully, neither she nor I are in any bit of a hurry for her to leave the crib. Yes, I know she's closing in on three. Don't rush me. :) I'm keeping my eyes out for some cute girly bedding on sale (or even better... on clearance?). I'm absolutely in LOVE with this PBK set, but seeing as I haven't seen the set come even close to under $500+ (seriously, who in their right mind??), I'm still shopping. :)

I love a good project!

I lurve garage sales. Love, love, love. I'm very possibly the cheapest person you'd ever hope to meet, so finding unique pieces at ridiculous prices AND being able to bargain with them is right up my alley. And plus, half the fun is in the process. You never know what you might find! Worst case scenario, you'll certainly find something to laugh at. :)


So here is a recent purchase of mine! Want to guess how much I spent on this dresser (which, by the way, is NOT missing a drawer on the top left side... that drawer has been painted black for some reason)? $3. I'm not kidding... three dollars!!


Aren't the legs adorable? The casters came right out... with a little help from Mr. Incredible. As in, he did that part for me. :)


I've sanded the whole thing, and we've taken the old drawer pulls off. I'm planning to paint it white or an off-white and use it in Sassy's "big girl" room, which is a sloooow work in progress. It'd probably help to have a better "vision" of what I'm doing in there. Help, anyone? We like pink. And girly. And possibly some type of cute birdie/tree combination.


So this? Yeah, had to have this one, too. I nearly had a coronary over this thing before I even got out of the car. A little bargaining and $10 later, it was mine.


One slight problem. My sister has requested this dresser or similar for her new house. Blood might be thicker than water, but I think she's going to have to look past my offense on this one. Because it's mine!


It needs a little work, no? But it's got so much character. So much appeal. So much storage.


So here's the thing... my knee-jerk reaction was to sand it down, paint it black, and then distress it. It's not going to be anyone's actual dresser; I'm going to use it the living area and store office supplies, magazines, and yes, probably toys in it. But, thing is, I actually really like the color it is now. And now I'm sort of wondering if I should do something a little more "unpredictable" with it... something reminiscent of one of my favorite eye-candy blogs. And I'm seriously loving all shades of aqua these days. One look in Sassy's closet, and there's no doubt of that. But I just couldn't see a big piece of AQUA furniture in my house. Just not sure if it would "fit."


And then, this morning, I came across this. Quite accidentally. I was on my way to drop some things off at Goodwill and totally missed the turn. There was a garage sale at the turn-around. ONE. DOLLAR. Hello, lover!


LOVE these glass knobs. Love, love, love!


I wasn't sure about the print at first (and the little rose buds are actually magnets... the picture part is magnetic), but it kind of grew on me. I still may give some chalkboard spray paint eventually, but for now, I think I'm keeping it as "inspiration" for Sassy's new room. Maybe not quite so Victorian, though. But the frame color? Ooh, la, la! I could maybe see that color on my green dresser. Thoughts?! If it helps, it's likely going against that caramel colored wall...

Grocery store bargains

A few months ago, I was introduced to Five Dollar Dinners. I'd like to say I'm good at saving money at the grocery store, but wow! I'm always so impressed at what Erin comes up with for only five dollars!

Each week, she posts about her grocery shopping trip and takes a picture of everything she bought and explains how much she spent. I'm always so intrigued by this, especially because she uses the same grocery store chain that I do. While we don't live in the same area, a lot of the sale prices are the same, so I like to get tips from her when I can! :)

I thought I would post about some of the great deals I found during our shopping trip today. I was quite excited about a few of them! Hey, everybody needs a hobby! This is mine.

Stop laughing.


Bought today at Kroger:

• Two loaves Healthy Life bread, on sale for $1.39/loaf, plus $0.35 off coupons, which doubles to $0.70 off (two coupons means I bought two loaves of bread) = $0.69/loaf of bread
• Bisquick pancake mix, regular price of $3.59, with $0.60 off Shortcuts e-coupon, plus $0.50 off coupon, which doubles to $1 off = $1.99 for the box (40 oz.)
  
• Dole salad mix, on sale for $1 {with what I assumed was a $0.75 off e-coupon, but apparently was for a different flavor... maybe? Going to have to look into this...} = $1/bag of salad... FAIL. Thought it was $0.25!
• Yoplait Greek yogurt cups, on sale for $1, plus $0.45 off coupon, which doubles to $0.90 off = $0.10/yogurt cup!!
• Two packages of hummus, on sale for $1 each (regular price is 3.99!)
• Dawn dish soap, marked down to $1.39?!?, plus $0.50 off coupon, which doubles to $1 off = $0.39 dish soap!
• No Sugar Added Del Monte fruit cups, marked down to $1.39, plus $0.75 off coupon = $0.64 (This is the kind of thing I won't usually buy because individual packages are almost always more expensive... but for sixty-four cents, it'll be handy to grab and go!)

The last item pictured is this trail mix from the produce section. I never EVER buy these unless I have a coupon, but I love me some trail mix! It ended up being on sale for $3.99 (regular price is $4.49) and I had a store coupon for $0.75 off, making this good and healthy snack $3.24. Not too shabby, considering how spendy these "specialty" mixes typically are!


Last but not least of my good deals today -- two whole chickens for $0.98/pound. Every once in a while, I like to make a roast chicken in the crock pot. It's so moist and delicious, but I absolutely DETEST the clean-up! However, when I wanted to make a roast chicken a few weeks ago (and use up some of my produce drawer for flavorings), I bit the bullet. I threw some things together and was very pleased with the honey citrus chicken that resulted. I was not pleased, however, when I got home from the store and realized the bag was leaking chicken juices all over my kitchen. Yuck! So, it went straight into the crock pot for dinner the following night. Because it wasn't done cooking until it was time for me to go to bed, I just stuck it in the fridge overnight and sliced it up the following day. I could not believe how much easier it was slicing the bird COLD rather than freshly cooked! I feel like I always waste so much meat when I'm trimming it off while still warm... like it's hard to tell what's good meat and what's yucky parts. By letting it sit in the fridge overnight, I could get entire chicken breasts and tenderloins off whole, and just sliced them up from there. So easy! I also felt like I got a TON more meat off of it than usual. It was enough for dinner for three PLUS a small Pyrex dish full of leftovers that were frozen (which are going to be chicken enchiladas tonight... yum!). So I'm going to try that method again and just freeze the meat in bags this time. I'll just pull a bag out as I need it.

TWO CORRECTIONS:

1. The price for the whole chickens was $0.88/lb., not $0.98. Even better!
2. After posting, I filled out a dispute form at Shortcuts about the coupon that wasn't applied to my bill today, and I already received a response. They've credited my account with $0.80 (five cents higher than the value of the unused coupon), which will be applied to my next grocery bill. Woo!
   

A quick breakfast treat

Last week, I attended our church's moms group, and I was among those whose turn it was to bring breakfast. At nine o'clock on a weeknight, I didn't really feel like running to the store to buy ingredients for something tried-and-true... especially when American Idol was coming on. :) This is what I threw together with ingredients on-hand, and it seemed to go over pretty well!


Refrigerated crescent rolls. We had a package leftover.


Cream cheese. Oh, how I love thee!


Almonds (any nut you like would work here).


Strawberry jam, canned last summer.


Open your crescent rolls... and please don't be alarmed if this happens.


Even if you find pieces of dough halfway across your kitchen on a rug somewhere. Or if you continue finding those dried out dough pieces for the next two days. It's okay.


Smoosh the rolls into the bottom of a 9x13 pan, and don't worry if it doesn't look pretty. No one will see this part. I sprinkled a little cinnamon and sugar on the dough, and then baked at 375 degrees for about ten minutes (until it's somewhat "firm" to the touch).

Spread the cream cheese on in a thin layer (it will be melty since the crescent dough will still be hot, but I found that helped it spread a little easier). Next goes a layer of strawberry (or whatever flavor) jam. Apple butter would work nicely as well here! Continue baking at the same temperature for another twenty minutes (give or take a few). Don't be concerned if your jam looks runny when you pull it out of the oven... it will set up as it cools.


I had toasted a couple handfuls of almonds and chopped them up. Sprinkle them on top while your jam is still hot. Cut into squares and enjoy!

I was a little nervous bringing a complete and total experiment to a social gathering, and when I walked in to see all kinds of delicious-looking treats, I felt even more unsure! When I was asked what my breakfast was (someone thought it was a cobbler), I laughed and said that it was just what was in my fridge, and that they shouldn't feel obligated to eat it if it wasn't terrific. :) But I'm relieved to say that it was tasty, though a bit on the "sweet" side for my personal taste. The strawberry jam was definitely the most strong flavor, and I was really glad I'd added the almonds on top. Nevertheless, I brought home a nearly empty pan, and was even asked by two moms for the recipe. :)

Another great coupon resource

Can you tell I love my coupons? :)

I keep meaning to share that I found another site similar to Shortcuts, which I posted about a few weeks ago. Cellfire works much the same way (see my post on Shortcuts for a more detailed explanation), and what is even more awesome... I've discovered that coupons that overlap are BOTH credited to your account! Combine this with a coupon from the paper, and you can find some items for very cheap or even free! Love it!

I've found so far that Shortcuts is laid out a little better for me... it seems to be a little more organized, and I like that the expiration date is easy for me to find. Cellfire isn't quite as great in this way, but I really can't complain when I'm saving money. :)

Shortcuts

I came across a really neat coupon site a few weeks ago and thought I would share! While there are many online coupon sites from which you can print coupons, this is the only site I have found yet that offers electronic coupons. No printing, no clipping, and no forgetting them at home! :)

Sign up for an account (it's free) and search for your grocery store. If they don't happen to be in your area yet, I did notice that you can request notification when they are.

If you DO see your store listed, you can put in your store card information, and it will link your savings directly to your card. Browse their coupons, add the ones you want to use (or even just any you think you MIGHT use!), and when you purchase that item at your store and use your store card, the value of the coupon is automatically deducted from your total. Easy as pie!

While there are not tons of coupons available through Shortcuts, I've noticed that they do list new ones fairly regularly, so it's important to check every couple of weeks. I've saved $5.25 so far in the two shopping trips I've made since registering my account. Coupons are not doubled as some printed coupons are, but you can use the electronic coupon in combination with a printed or newspaper coupon to save even more money and end up with some really good deals!

Just as regular cut-out coupons do, Shortcuts coupons do have an expiration date. You also cannot reuse them. Just as you hand in your paper coupons to the cashier, Shortcuts coupons are marked on your account as being used. However, it appears that they re-post some coupons, so just keep checking to see what's available.

Hope it works as well for others as it has been for me! :)

Complete

Complete.

I enjoyed the Eat From the Pantry Challenge, and successfully completed three out of my four goals. It's that pesky budget that I didn't do so well with. However, it's better to buy things when they're on sale and stock up, rather than to wait to buy them when they aren't on sale and spend more money in the long run... so, whatever. Overall, I'm happy. I did like the challenge of using things already on hand to base my meal-planning on, and I'll have to continue that trend in the future... even though I probably won't be spending under $150 a month for groceries!

$3.00

...is what I spent on all of these. Our local library has a "library shop" in which they sell books that have either been donated and cannot be used, or library books that have been phased out of the system. I've come home with some amazing finds from this shop, and always make sure to check it out each time we are there, since they restock it frequently. Sassy and I went to the library on this cold Saturday morning, and we found some treasures in the library shop today! We chose twelve books. All children's books are a quarter a piece... you can't beat that! Yes, some are a little old, and some are a little worn... but there are so many books that have tons of life left in them!


We found some cute Little Golden books.


And we found some childhood favorites of mine.


We found a book by one of our favorite funny authors.


I always thought The Magic School Bus books were so neat.


And we came home with this, since it will be in three days.


$3.00 for twelve books. The library shop is a great place!

EFTP Challenge: Week #4 Plan

The last week of January has arrived! This challenge has been harder than I thought in some ways, but not so bad in others. It's kind of a fun challenge to think of what I already have and see if I can put it to use in new and different ways, but I didn't succeed so well on the budget. However, I still think that I've done okay saving money in the long run by buying things as they are on sale, when I have coupons for them, etc. If I totaled up only what we consumed this month and no more, I'd have probably come in under budget anyway... or let's believe that I would. :)

The menu for the last week of January:

Monday 1/25 - spaghetti, broccoli, garlic bread
Tuesday 1/26 - chili dogs (using leftover chili), french fries, cottage cheese
Wednesday 1/27 - chicken fried pork chops*, mashed potatoes, corn, rolls
Thursday 1/28 - hamburgers, macaroni and cheese, baked beans
Friday 1/29 - crunchy garlic chicken*, baked potatoes, fruit
Saturday 1/30 - chicken cordon bleu, twice baked potatoes, green beans, rolls
Sunday 1/31 - tacos, fruit (plans changed last Sunday, so we'll eat this meal this week)

* denotes a new recipe I'm trying

EFTP Challenge: Week #3 Plan

Halfway through the month!

We're still doing well on goals 1, 3, and 4... it's just that darn budget that hasn't complied so well.

Yep, I'm over-budget. Already. And we're only halfway through the month. I concede defeat on that one. It's that darn 10 for $10 sale at our grocery store!

However, I haven't bought anything that we have not or will not use, and I really don't think I've bought things at unreasonable prices, either. For instance, between the sale and coupon-doubling, I bought a brownie mix last night for 20 cents! I guess, if nothing else, I've learned that I'm probably doing okay on our normal grocery "budget." As is, I would expect to spend approximately $50 for a week's worth of groceries. Which really isn't bad when you think that that comes out to about $7 a day for three people, or $2.38 per person per day. Not bad.

Otherwise, we're still on track. Oh, and the chicken and dumplings meal was terrible. I won't be making it again. Maybe I did something wrong. "E" for effort, though! :) I liked the honey BBQ pork recipe, but would probably add a bit more liquid and/or sauce to cook it in next time, as they ended up a little on the dry side.

Meals for this week:

Monday 1/18 - meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn, rolls (no school tomorrow, and this sounds like a "homey" meal to make in the afternoon!)
Tuesday 1/19 - steak sandwiches with onions and peppers, french fries, fruit
Wednesday 1/20 - pancakes, eggs, breakfast sausage
Thursday 1/21 - chili
Friday 1/22 - cilantro lime pork chops*, cajun rice, rolls
Saturday 1/23 - homemade pizza
Sunday 1/24 - tacos, fruit

* denotes a new recipe I'm trying

EFTP Challenge: Week #2 Plan

One week down, three weeks to go!

This week was pretty successful, although I did end up making a last minute addition of chicken parmesan for lunch today, as our plans didn't happen the way I thought they would. No big deal! I chose what was easy to prepare and what was on hand, and only made a small amount (no leftovers).

Of the new recipes I tried, I realized the calzones were not all that different from ones I'd made in the past, so that was no huge improvement. I found cheesy chicken strips recipe in a cookbook I've had for a few years, but not made much out of yet. They were okay, but I'd probably add a little more seasoning next time, if I were to make them again. They were a bit on the bland side.

I personally LOVE the chicken fajita recipe I use, and could eat it on a weekly basis if my picky eaters liked Mexican. I cut chicken breasts into thin strips and marinate them (usually overnight, but even an hour or two ahead of time works just fine) in a mixture of one part soy sauce to two parts molasses. Sounds weird, but it's really good! My dad actually came up with that one years ago, but I've added it into our regular meal "rotation" lately. Saute the chicken with sliced onions and peppers, and serve on tortillas with whatever toppings you like. Leftovers are excellent, too!

As far as shopping for what I needed this week, I did pretty well. I bought milk earlier in the week, and also a yellow pepper for the fajitas. I don't believe I bought anything else for meal prep this week.

Where I'm concerned (and starting to think my budgetary goal of $150 wasn't quite as high as I felt like it was!) is that I've already spent about $100 in groceries this month. That DOES include about $45 in meat, which will be at least ten meals for us, maybe more. We're only one-third of the way through January, but I've spent two-thirds of my goal... so we'll see. I don't expect (and never did) to really trim the budget back that much every single month (after all, the goal this month is to use what you've already bought), but I can't help but think it's a nice effort to try it once. :)

Here's the meals I'm planning to make this week:

Monday 1/11 - baked penne, corn, garlic bread
Tuesday 1/12 - out to dinner
Wednesday 1/13 - honey BBQ pork loin with carrots and corn*, cottage cheese, rolls
Thursday 1/14 - rosemary chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, stuffing, green beans
Friday 1/15 - chicken and veggies with dumplings*, baked potatoes?
Saturday 1/16 - lasagna, green beans, garlic bread
Sunday 1/17 - quesadillas, fruit

* denotes a new recipe I'm trying

I had planned to make orange chicken (a new recipe) and stir fry rice on Tuesday night, since my husband will not be home for dinner and that's the kind of thing he absolutely detests. But, my mother-in-law has offered to take Sassy and me out to dinner that night, so we took her up on it. I'm no fool.

I saw a recipe for chicken and veggies with dumplings that looks really good, but I'm a little concerned about substance for my meat-and-potatoes husband. The only "hearty" addition I can come up with is baked potatoes, but I would LOVE other suggestions if anyone has them! I'm not coming up with much... the meat, veggies, and "bread" (dumplings) are already in the main course.

I will have to make a quick trip for milk again, but other than that, I'm hoping not to have to buy anything else for this week's dinners. If chicken is on sale, I will buy some of that, though... I know we don't have enough chicken in the freezer at the moment.

A brief follow-up...

...to the previous post about price matching. I thought of a couple other things I did not mention. :)

While shopping, I try to keep all my price match items separate, if possible. It's much easier come check-out time to put all those items either first or last, and helps the cashier if I have all those items grouped together and can run through those prices (written on my list) at once. It's also easier on me to do it all at one time, rather than watching each item as it is scanned.

I'm not sure how this works on store brand items... never tried. :) I did, however, use this with produce last week. A store I am NEVER at was having a sale on mushrooms -- eight ounces for one dollar. I honestly hate mushrooms, but I bought four cartons and made cream of mushroom soup in my crock pot one day. I realized that, with the sale price, the homemade stuff was significantly cheaper than the canned! I froze it in Ziploc baggies, and have already used it in one recipe. I don't really expect to stop keeping at least one of those red-and-white cans in my pantry, but it's sure nice to know you can save a few dollars by making a homemade version with not a lot of effort.

Jenni asked how long the whole organization process takes. It's a good question, and to be honest, I'm not sure if I have an exact answer! :) I usually organize in stages. I'll start by cutting out all my coupons for that week and looking through the ads, usually on Sunday afternoon. Then on Sunday night, I'll plan out my meals (generally based on what's on sale that week, what I have coupons for, and what we just haven't had in a while). I try to organize coupons and make out my shopping list that evening also, but it doesn't always happen. Sometimes that falls to Monday night, meaning I go shopping on Tuesday morning. It just depends. :) I would guess it takes around an hour from start to finish.

It's hard to fit everything in during the course of a day, week, or month! There are definitely areas that are lacking around here. I've spent the past three days trying to finish dusting my living room because I have a clingy little one who is apparently quite offended by a clean house. My vacuum cleaner is about as handy as as the toy vacuum that hides next to it in the closet (banished because it has too many little pieces that drive me batty). I fell off the exercise wagon months ago, but I'm too out of shape to run and catch it. But, this is at least one small area that seems to be working for me at the moment. :)

And with that, it's time to go clean the bathroom sinks.

Price matching

I've recently been introduced to the world of price matching. How did I not know about this sooner? :)

I honestly never got the whole concept of why you'd want to spend the time looking through ads of other stores, when you can just go to the stores you normally shop at and buy what you normally buy. I also thought that if a particular store was running a great deal one week, why not just stop by that store for only that deal? Why mess with the whole "price matching" thing?

Here's what I've discovered in the past few weeks: price matching is not nearly as difficult or as time-consuming as it seems like it might be. Who has the time (or gas money) to drive around to a bunch of different stores, particularly if they aren't even in the same town or otherwise near each other, if you can get the same sale price at your one-stop-shop for the week? In other words, if I'm already going to make a Walmart trip once a week, why drive around to the other places if Walmart will give me the same price on the same item?

It does take organization, though. I'm still working to figure out the best system for myself, and I will also add that it DOES take more effort to be paying attention to which coupons I have, what sale prices are at which store, the items we need today vs. the items we don't need just yet, and keeping my two-year-old occupied in the cart and not knocking a fire extinguisher to the ground, sending every employee within a six-aisle radius running in our direction (true story).

Here's what I traditionally do to keep organized throughout the store:

• Plan the week's meals out ahead of time, so I know exactly what ingredients I still need to purchase for that week.
• Do a quick scan through the pantry, fridge, and freezer to see what commonly-used items we are running low on. I try to keep at least one ahead of most things we do use frequently (except items with a short shelf-life, of course) to minimize the last minute trips to the store.
• Pull various store ads from the weekly paper and take a quick look through each of them. Circle or mark down in some way the items that would be good to price match.
  
• Clip new coupons, and throw out expired ones. Pull all coupons I expect to use for that week, and put them in the order in which I'll be coming to that item in the store.
• Write my list out in the order of the store. This keeps me from having to make several trips back and forth across the store, because I don't forget things I've already passed (usually).
• Put a star next to any items I have coupons for, so that I don't forget to use them.
• Include price match items in my list. I make a note of which store has the best price by writing only the first initial of the store, and circling it on my list. (M = Meijer, C = CVS, W = Walgreens, etc.) I write that store's price next to the item on my list, and I also make note of any special consideration (how many ounces that price is good for, if there is a limit on how many you can buy at that price, etc.).
• If an advertised sale price is something like "2 for $6," I've found it's easiest to break it down into how much each ONE item is. It seems to be less confusing if I just tell the cashier the item is on sale for $3 each, instead of saying "I have three of these, and they are on sale 2 for $6."
• Know which stores will honor competitor's prices, and which ones don't. Walmart does price matching, but not against other Walmarts. (Strange, I know. We discovered this two years ago when Sassy's formula was nearly $7 more expensive at the Walmart two minutes away from us than the one in the town to the south of us. In that case, it was worth the ten-minute drive once a month or so to stock up.) Our regular grocery store does NOT price match, but they do double coupons up to fifty cents.
  

As I'm walking through the store, I make sure to check the store's regular price with the other sale ads (which are all written on my list, so I'm not flipping through eighteen thousand papers while shopping to look for that one item). Sometimes, I've found that the store's regular price is actually cheaper than another store's sale price.

I do make sure to take all my ads with me to the store, but so far, the cashier generally does not ask to see the ads. I guess I either look like an honest person, or they take pity on a mom with a toddler! Besides, who's going to lie about baby carrots being on sale for $1, instead of the normal $1.88? :) I still take them anyway, just in case I'm ever asked. I can refer to my list to help me remember which ad a specific price was in.

Price matching is apparently more common than I realized. I've had a few cashiers tell me they see people bringing in a stack of ads frequently! I guess when I realized how "easy" it is, I don't mind putting forth a little extra time and effort to save some money on our regular shopping bills. It's amazing how fast the normal items really can add up, so this has been one little way I can stretch my husband's paycheck just a bit farther, and I'm always proud of myself when I accomplish that!

EFTP Challenge: Week #1 Plan

Here's my plan for the first full week of January, and meeting my goals with the Eat From the Pantry Challenge!

Monday 1/4 - chili, cornbread
Tuesday 1/5 - calzones*, fruit
Wednesday 1/6 - sloppy joes, macaroni and cheese, broccoli
Thursday 1/7 - cheesy chicken strips*, baked potatoes, green beans
Friday 1/8 - chicken alfredo with broccoli (or spinach), garlic bread
Saturday 1/9 - chicken fajitas, homemade applesauce
Sunday 1/10 - family lunch out (no, I'm not cheating... a family member has a birthday :)

* denotes a new recipe I'm trying

So far this month, we've had:
Friday 1/1 - chicken parmesan bundles*
Saturday 1/2 - taco soup*
Sunday 1/3 - beef stew (which kind of flopped because I let it cook too long, and some of the meat disintegrated a bit... oops)

I really liked both the chicken parmesan bundles and the taco soup. My two-year-old wasn't thrilled with the chicken, which kind of surprised me, and she called the taco soup "chili" and ate a small portion. My husband didn't love the spinach in the chicken dish, but otherwise liked the meal. He wasn't a fan of the taco soup, which also surprised me because it was pretty close to chili, which he does like. I love my picky eaters, I love my picky eaters, I love...

Anyway. I looked through one of my cookbooks that I haven't pulled out in a while tonight, and bookmarked a few new recipes to try this month! The cheesy chicken strips recipe is from that book, and I was excited that I already had all the ingredients on hand, which is totally the point of this challenge... using what you already have!

Of all the meals I plan to make this week, I believe I have everything I need for them already. The only thing I really "need" to get at the store this week (I think) are things like milk, fresh fruit, and meats for meals to come. I do know I'll need to stock up on meats to put in my garage freezer, because there's no way we'd make it through the month if I didn't, or next week even. I saw the grocery store in town that I don't usually shop at (it's traditionally more expensive) is running a sale right now on "combo packs" -- large packages of beef, chicken, and pork that would feed our family for probably 5-6 meals for $20.

If anyone else happens to be blogging their similar efforts, please let me know! I would love to follow along and get some new ideas for recipes. :)

Eat From the Pantry Challenge

I don't tend to make New Year's Resolutions, but I have some goals I'd like to accomplish in the month of January. Most of them center around organization projects (and getting the half the contents of Toys R Us that have somehow landed in my house over the past month under control), but I came across another great idea last night.

It's the Eat From the Pantry Challenge. The whole idea is to shop as little as possible, and to use the items you already have in your pantry (or fridge, or freezer, or cabinets) for meal-planning.

I'm a fan of stocking up on things when they're on sale, when I have the right coupons, and (my newest addiction) using the price-matching policy that many stores have available. It's a little extra work, but if you can stay organized and on top of it, you can save a ton of money! I estimated that I saved around $50 on my last trip to Walmart by looking at other stores' ads ahead of time in order to price match, and using my coupons as usual.

I think this challenge can blend really well with what I'm already doing to save money. I do like to plan my meals ahead of time for the week, but I've gotten away from doing that in these past couple holiday months. It's also hard to plan ahead when you know so many things are going to come up at the last minute (Christmas visitors, impromptu holiday get-togethers, visiting relatives, etc.), but now that January is in full swing, I'm really excited to get back to my normal routine of planning out our dinners.

January also happens to be the busiest month for my husband. He works long days and most Saturdays this month. He also happens to be a huge basketball fan, much to my dismay, so this is also a month when he tries to squeeze in a few games here and there, meaning dinners are sometimes rushed or eaten away from home. While I know a plan is just that -- a plan -- I'm going to attempt it anyway, and just know that I'll have to go with the flow sometimes. And, on nights he might not be home for dinner, I'm looking forward to trying some recipes that he might not be as much of a fan of. I'm seeing orange chicken and stir-fry in my future this month. :)

So, here's the challenge! You set your own goals, based on what you expect to work for your family. See the link for some ideas of what others are doing!

My goals for this month in the EFTP challenge:

1. Make only two "big" shopping trips during the month for groceries. Things like milk and produce may be purchased as needed in between.
2. Stay under a budget of $150 for grocery bills this month. It sounds like a lot, but I've actually cut what I would normally expect to spend by 25%. Of course, I traditionally buy a little extra of certain things to stock up if I see a good sale on a product we use frequently... so all bets are off if the store is having some ridiculous sale that truly will save us money in the long run. :) But, I hope to be able to do it, and I think I might be able to cut back on some of the "snacky" stuff... and by eating from the pantry, of course!
   
3. Try at least one new recipe a week. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, but it's really easy to get in a rut with cooking. I already met this goal both last night and will meet it again tonight... new recipes both nights!
4. Post a recap weekly to let others know how I did! I've fallen WAY out of the routine of blogging from what I used to do, and that's okay... but I think it might give me a sense of accountability if I know someone else will be reading about it... even if it's just two or three others. :)
   

So, those are the goals! I hope to be able to meet them, and I'm honestly excited to see how I end up at the end of the month.

Now, off to do some meal-planning for the week! I'll come back and post our menu later.

Who else will take the challenge?!

I'm making yogurt in my crock pot!

Woohoo! I'm excited. :)

I'm recently addicted to this blog, written by a mom who took on the challenge of using her Crock Pot every single day for a year. A YEAR! I'd come across it somewhere or another months ago, but with the shift in seasons comes a whole new set of meals I look forward to preparing. There's something wonderful about throwing a mix of ingredients into the stoneware, smelling it come together all day long, and having a slow-cooked, homey, cozy meal at the end of the day with little preparation.

I love using my Crock Pot, but we tire of roast, beef stew, and chicken and noodles pretty quickly. So, when I saw that Stephanie has a cookbook out now, I got very excited! I sat in Barnes and Noble last week for over an hour perusing through her book. (I had nothing else to do while waiting for the faulty brake light switch in my car to be switched out.) So many recipes, and such unique ones at that! Sure, there's definitely things that won't work for our family, but lots of them will... or I'd be willing to try it at least!

I've already made her Pumpkin Spice Lattes (in keeping with the pumpkin theme) and Peppermint Mochas (which is what I'd really order in Starbucks). I made her Brown Sugar Chicken for dinner last night, and was QUITE excited about the leftovers for lunch today... until I found out Jimmy John's had $1 subs today, so we had that instead. I'm looking forward to leftovers for lunch tomorrow though! (And the more I talk about it, the more I want to have a pre-dinner snack right now...) I'm planning to make Cream Cheese Chicken this weekend to have awaiting us when we return from taking Sassy trick-or-treating a little early.

And right now, I am making YOGURT in my Crock Pot! Really! If it turns out as well as the recipe says it should, I will be thrilled! Sassy is going through a stage that she would eat yogurt at every meal, and those little individual YoBaby cups get expensive! There is absolutely nothing expensive that goes into making it, and if I can whip up a big batch in one day that will last us about a week to a week and a half, it will totally be worth it.

I'm looking forward to trying out many more of these recipes. My cookbook has been ordered!

Making a (non) pillowcase dress

I really hate sewing. I'm definitely no "seamstress." But, I decided to make something else crafty this week (a mei tai!), and while I was at it, I decided to give these cute dresses a try, too.

Have you seen these pillowcase dresses that are in every boutique and Etsy store these days? They are SO cute. I've seen adorable ones with embroidery, monogramming, all kind of cuteness. But gracious, they are EXPENSIVE for being such an "easy" item!

So, for less than $5, I made my own. And if I can do it, ANYBODY can do it!


First, find a cute print that you like. If you are starting with a real pillowcase, your life is that much easier because the sides are already sewn shut and you shouldn't have much trouble lining everything up so it's even. But if you are like me and don't honestly know where they sell pillowcases that are cute enough to be dresses separate from the rest of the bedding set (and for this cheap!), you can just buy a yard or so of fabric (depending on the size of your little one, of course). I bought two squares of pre-cut fabric from Wal-mart that were 18"x21" a piece. I wanted something for my little girl to wear on the Fourth of July in a few days, so I went with a red cotton with white stars.


Isn't it cute?


But... here's what's not so cute. Every anti-seamstress' dread.


The sewing machine! Brings back horrible memories of junior high home economics class, and having to make my own skirt. Which I then had to wear. To school.


I borrowed my mom's sewing machine, since I have misplaced mine (due to never having used it in the six years I've had it). My mom said the reason it's called "brother" is because when you get it out to work on a project, you end up saying "Oh, brother, why am I doing this?!"


Okay, but it's truly not that bad! At least this project isn't. You'll first want to break out the iron (another task which I dread, but it does make life easier on this one occasion) to fold down your hemlines. Then, I hemmed what would become the bottom of each piece.


You'll need to cut off both corners at the top to allow for the armholes. One site I found said to measure 2" along the top and 3" along the side, then cut a straight line across to connect those measurements. Another site said to simply cut out a "J" shape from each corner. I kind of did a mix of those. The measurements the first site gave didn't quite seem big enough, so I fudged them a little with the "J" shape idea. It's fine. We're into individuality.


Fold down the top and allow room for a ribbon to pass through. Hem.


Next, you'll want to lay your two separate pieces together, outsides facing in toward each other. Double check to make sure your tops and bottoms are lined up. You don't want the dress to be three inches longer in the front than in the back.


Stitch both sides together, leaving room at the top to allow for the armholes.


And, I don't know what took me so long to notice this, and maybe there's a totally different use for this feature of the sewing machine, but right about this time (after I'd been using the sewing machine all day) I noticed these nifty little lines parallel to the needle. Could it be this was put in place to help lopsided sewers like me keep their fabric in a straight line while sewing? I felt a little smarter after that.


The last step involving the sewing machine was to hem each of the armholes. You really could do this earlier in the process, but I saved it for last, mostly because I thought it would be the hardest part. I also wasn't sure if I had left enough room for my toddler's skinny little arms to squeeze through. I ended up folding the edges down once more to open it up a smidgen.


Turn the dress right side out.


Both your top and your bottom should be open, so it's more of a "tube" or a "tunnel" at this point, rather than a dress.


You should have two wides hems to allow for two ribbons to run through them.


And what would be cuter for an Independence Day ensemble than navy blue ribbon? I used a grosgrain ribbon that's not quite an inch wide. String a ribbon through each side. Length depends on how long you want the ribbon to hang down upon completion.


Bunch the fabric together a bit to make the top a little more fitted. Tie the ribbon into bows. Or, if you like, double knot and let the ribbons hang flat. That looks cute, too.


And, in one of the newly discovered words from my daughter, ta-da! Finished product. Totally simple, totally cheap, and totally CUTE!