Shopping deals for today

Walgreens had another of their one day, end of the month coupons today. It was $5 off $20, and my Walgreens made sure the purchase after other coupons was at least $20. I got 6 more Olay body wash. They were 6 for $20, I had a $2 coupon for each one and earned a $7 register reward. (I did this deal twice already) I also got 2 cases of water, not pictured.
My total before all coupons and discounts was $49
My total after coupons was $20 and I have that $7 RR to spend at Walgreens later.
I learn about most Walgreens deals at SlickDeals.net, the forums there explain these deals much better than I do.

This sweet handmade towel is a thrift store purchase, just $1. It is hanging on the oven handle right now but I will store it away until Valentines Day.
A like-new really comfy and sturdy solid oak glider chair and ottoman from Salvation Army for $30. I hope to recover it, even though the upholstery looks fine, I would prefer a different color.

Dutch Baby for breakfast

Doesn't that look good? It was too!

Dutch Baby ( baked puffed pancake)

2 T butter * 2 Eggs * 1/2 cup of flour and milk * pinch of salt

place the butter in an oven proof 8 or 9 inch pan. place pan in a 400 degree oven until the butter melts. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs. Then whisk in the milk, flour and salt. Carefully pour in to hot butter. (Just pour it in, don't stir) Bake for 20-25 minutes, until it is puffed and well browned. Serve immediately.

I like it with just a little powdered sugar on top. My kids like maple syrup. The recipe book suggests a raisin apple sauce.

This is a very easy, quick and low cost breakfast.

Monday Menu Plan July 28th

Monday

BLTs with potato salad and cucumber sticks

Tuesday

Smoked Pork Loin on homemade buns with zucchini and green salad

Wednesday

Goulash with potatoes and squash

Thursday

Chicken Chow Mein

Friday

cold sandwiches and chips

Walgreens Dove Deal

The July Walgreens Easy Saver booklet had a coupon for $2 off every 2 Dove hair items. They also put it on sale for $4.99, buy 1 get 1 free. I had 18 $1.50 coupons on these.

So I combined all the deals today and got 18 Dove products.
My total was $5.34 and $3.93 of that was Oklahoma sales tax. I should of added a small filler item because my last $1.50 coupon beeped.

But I gave that last coupon to the cashier and she was very happy so she could get some shampoo while she was at work.

The $9 Watermelon

Jeff called me and said he bought a big watermelon for $9 from a man selling them at a gas station out of the back of a pick-up. Watermelons are selling at our local grocery stores for around $4-$5 dollars so I first thought he did not get much of a deal.

Folks, it turns out this is a really big watermelon. It weighed 38 pounds on our bathroom scales and measured 37 inches around the middle. And it tastes so much better than any grocery watermelon.

I was wrong, Jeff got a great deal! It does not look too red in this picture but it really is red and so delicious.

It is from Rush Springs, Oklahoma and they will be having their annual watermelon festival in just a few days.

Menu Plan Monday - July 21st

Sunday 20th

Smoked turkey sausage with green beans and potatoes and big green salad

Monday 21st
Spaghetti with Foccacia bread (I plan on making extra sauce to freeze for future meals)

Tuesday 22nd
Ham Steaks with baked beans, veggies from the garden

Wednesday 23rd
Taco Salads made with turkey taco filling from the freezer

Thursday 24th
Fried Rice with bacon, onions, carrots, peas and corn

Friday 25th
Burgers on homemade buns, zucchini oven fries

Saturday 26th
Grilled chicken and potato salad

Sunday 27th
big green salad
takeout pizza from The Hideaway
whatever dessert Jeff picks for his birthday

Boxes of Randomness

Nina spent part of Friday cleaning out a spare room in their home. She called and asked if I wanted 2 boxes of randomness that she had set aside for me. Nina has good taste and likes lots of stuff. She rarely buys just one of anything and has always thought that more is better.

Even so, when I unpacked these, I was impressed. It was really good randomness, as she called it.
Jimmy took the storage box. I put all the scrapbooking and cardmaking stuff in the craft room.
those 2 clear bowls are still on the dining room table, I think they will look cool with something inside them, not sure what yet.

Thanks, Ninabeth!

Christmas in July

Christmas is 6 months away but I found this fabric basket tutorial on the Pink Penguin blog and I thought it would look really cute in Christmas fabrics. Pink Penguin made hers from pink (of course) and neutral fabrics.
The tutorial is very clear, even for beginner seamstresses. It is a tiny basket, about the size of a traditional recipe box that holds 3x5 cards.
So far, I have made 2 in red and green fabrics but I want to make more of them, a few to match some of the rooms in our home and organize little things, and some for gifts.

Thrift store gem

I have not been going to thrift stores much but I needed to go to Walgreens and my favorite thrift store is just about halfway between my work and Walgreens so I made the tiny detour and stopped today.

I bought this wonderful hooked rug for just $4.50! It is all handmade and I think it is several years old but is really clean so I don't think it is have ever been on any one's floor before.

By our front door.

I think it will look even better when I take that fluorescent orange price tag off.

Monday Menu Plan July 14th

I used to make out menus for a week or 2 at time but have not done it much lately. So in effort to save time and money and avoid take-out, I am trying it again. I've planned 7 menus but we may eat them in a different order or I may cook something else but this is the "plan"

Sunday - Chicken cacciatore with noodles and a big green salad

Monday - Hearty Ham Casserole with a big green salad and rustic apple tart

Tuesday - Pinto Beans with cornbread sticks and oven-fried zucchini

Wednesday - Smoked pork loin on homemade buns with oven fried onion rings and coleslaw

Thursday - Black Bean Tamale pie with green salad, chips and salsa

Friday - Lean Chicken Fried Steak with mashed potatoes, carrots and squash

Saturday - Hurry Up Chicken Pot Pie

if you want more menu inspiration, go to the Organizing Junkie's site for hundreds of others bloggers menu plans.

A Year of Savings - Pay your bills in full

We just got our bi-annual car insurance bill for our 2 vehicles. Our company will let you pay it in installments over the 6 months. But they offer a 15% discount if the total bill is paid in full at the beginning of the coverage period. That 15% discount comes to $72 for us. You can be sure I will be writing out one check to pay it in full!

A Year of Savings - MyPoints.Com

There are lots of ways to earn "free" stuff on the internet. One of my favorites is MyPoints.com. I have been a member since 1999. Points are earned from clicking on links in emails and that is how I earn most of mine. Points also come shopping through merchants on their site, using their credit card or doing trial offers.
Jeff and I are both members, 4 accounts per household are allowed. We both average a $50 gift card every 6 months or so. Jeff likes to get his for Lowes. I used to prefer Linens N Things but they no longer over them so I got a $50 Walgreens card this time.

Saturday cooking

Food Pyramid had ground white turkey on sale for $1 a pound this week. I bought 10 rolls and cooked it all into taco filling. Turkey looks a lot different than ground beef while it is cooking, but once it is fully cooked and seasoned, it looks and tastes just about the same as beef. I used this taco seasoning recipe multiplied times 10, but with a lot less pepper.
We had taco salads for supper and the rest of the filling is in the freezer for future meals.
I baked a loaf of Nut Bread, a recipe I found on SusanBranch.com several years ago. It is a very nice bread that calls for no oil or shortening.

Nut Bread

1 egg

1/3 Cup sugar

1 Cup Milk

2 C flour - (today I used 1 C all purpose and 1 C whole wheat)

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 Cup chopped walnuts ( pecans are good too)
Preheat the oven the 350 degrees.

Beat the egg and sugar together with a whisk. Whisk in the milk. With a spoon or spatula, mix in the dry ingredients. Add nuts.

Pour into a very well greased 8x4 bread pan.

Bake about 35-45 minutes or until it tests done.

Serve warm with a little butter. Jeff likes it toasted.

It seemed a little wasteful to have the entire oven heated up with just one thing baking so I mixed up a batch of bar cookies to bake at the same time.

Dream Bars

Preheat oven to 350. ( I baked these at 325 today so they took a little longer)

bottom crust

1 stick butter

1 Cup flour

2 T sugar

pinch of salt

Melt the butter. Stir in flour, sugar and salt. Press into a greased 9x9 baking pan. Bake about 15 minutes or until the crust is very lightly browned.

topping

1 egg

3/4 C brown sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup coconut

beat the egg with a fork. Stir in brown sugar and vanilla. Stir in coconut last. Carefully spread on hot crust. Bake about 15 more minutes or until brown.

Rummage Sale finds

Jeff and I went to the library and Wal-mart this morning. In between the 2, we drove by a rummage sale in a bank parking lot. It was already 9:30 so I was not expecting to find any good stuff left.

I bought these 2 very over-sized mugs for just $1 for the pair.

Jeff spotted these beauties and bought them for Jimmy for $2. Jimmy will like them and they do match his little law school apartment. They are tall, almost 20 inches and seem to be a nice quality porcelain or ceramics. The people running the sale said they had been laughing about them all morning and were joking that they would see us on Antiques Road Show getting these appraised for $10,000.

I think they are probably just worth $2 but if they do end up being a treasure, Jimmy can sell them and pay off some of his student loans.

The Pickens Plan

Find more videos like this on PickensPlan

Boone Pickens is man who is making the biggest impact on my town pretty much since this town started. He has donated many millions to our university and along with his money, his plan for an athletic department is being implemented at break neck speed. Some people love him and lots of people can't stand him. But no one can deny he is successful and gets things done.

Boone has been on every news show I have watched in the last 2 days talking about his energy plan. He makes a lot of sense. We certainly cannot keep spending $4.00 and more for gasoline and sending $700 Billion to pay for this oil to countries that mostly hate us.

If you have not seen Boone this week, watch this video. He thinks we need to switch to natural gas for most of our power in the short term and wind power in the long term.

Neither the Democrats or Republicans seem to have an energy plan. At least Boone has one.

A Year of Savings - Oatmeal Snack Cake

Oatmeal Snack Cake

1 Cup quick cooking oats

3/4 cup water, room temperature

3/4 C flour

1/2 teaspoons each of salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

4 T (1/2 stick) softened butter

1/2 C white sugar

1/2 C brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 vanilla

Grease and flour an 8X8 inch baking pan (I used an 8 inch circle)

Combine oats and water in a small bowl and let set for at least 5 minutes

Combine dry ingredients in another small bowl.

In the bowl of mixer, cream together the butter and sugars. Add egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture and mix just until incorporated. Add soaked oats and mix just until combined.

Transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

I've written before about liking dessert recipes that don't call for huge amounts of butter or eggs and this little recipe meets that requirement. It is just right for dessert on weeknights or as a coffeecake for breakfast.

Whats new

Hello friends, I just noticed I have not posted in more than a week. I am fine and still here. My in-laws were here for a 4 day visit over the 4th of July weekend and I guess that got me all off my regular schedule.

So here is what is new.

My mom found this pile of pinwale corduroy in a picnic basket in their attic while they were getting ready for a garage sale. She does not remember where it came from and I don't remember either. But I really like all the colors and think they will make a great scrap quilt.

My little garden is so much fun. I pick about 2 handfuls of produce every evening, just about the right amount to keep us in fresh vegetables. We are already making plans for a bigger garden next year.

New shoes and socks from Famous Footwear.