Archive | September, 2011

Coin Sorting Activity

12 Sep

This is another activity that was inspired by something from Pinterest.  It was a picture of a coin sorting activity using a snack divider tray.  K was bored after dinner one night and we had a ton of change that I needed to count and put in rolls.  I don’t have the snack divider tray shown in the picture, but I do have a 4 section glass plate that I believe was a wedding gift.  I put a coin in each section to show her what coin goes in that section.  Then, she started sorting the coins.

We didn’t get very far that night, K was tired from her day at school, but we picked it up the next morning.  We finished the sorting, then she started counting it into stacks of 10 so I could wrap it.  We worked on it a few times throughout the day, I think all the counting was wearing her out!

We ended having $52 in coins!  We will take it to the bank this week to deposit into savings for the girls.

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How I Got Started with Coupons

12 Sep

I have been putting off posting about coupons since I’m my coupons are a little disorganized and I keep putting off organizing it since other things have taken priority.  But, I thought today I would finally sit down to share how I got started with coupons.

I have heard stories of helping my mom with her “poo-cons” when I was small.  She and my aunt would get together to clip coupons and get deals.  Something must have stuck at that early age, because now that I have a family of my own and we are a 1 income household, I am always looking for a deal.  I handle all the finances for our household, and after our second daughter arrived, I knew it was really time to buckle down on our finances and find more ways to save money.  We had already taken a lot of extras out of our budget, things like cable TV, minimum house phone and cell phone services, but we still needed a way to save more.  I occasionally would use coupons, but generally would forget.  Around this time, a friend of mine really started to get into coupons. She was my motivation for getting more into coupons, and in April of 2010 I really started paying attention to sales ads better, getting multiple newspapers each Sunday for the coupons, and reading coupon blogs.

I found that I needed better organization, so I created my first coupon binder.  I bought a 2″ binder, 16 dividers with pockets, 2 packs of 9 pocket pages (like for baseball and trading cards), and 50 full sheet protective sleeves.  I decided that I would clip and organize by store aisle, so I created a cover page with my name and contact phone numbers in case I left my binder somewhere (and yes, this has happened a couple times) and a list of the sections I would divide the coupons into.

Then, I went to work each week clipping and organizing my coupons in the 9 pocket pages.

9 pocket page with coupons

I used the full sheet pages to put inserts I hadn’t clipped yet and to put the weekly store ads in.

Full sheet protectors with unclipped weekly inserts

This method worked for me for quite a while.  I also was reading blogs like The Krazy Coupon Lady and “The” Cents’Able Shoppin to get the coupon match ups for the weekly sales.  After a while, I made some changes to my organization, which I will talk about after I can get my coupons organized better and get some pictures to share what I do.

If you want to get started in coupons but don’t know where to start, I really like The Krazy Coupon Lady’s Beginners page.  It talks about different ways to organize your coupon binder, how to find coupons, how to change your mindset about shopping, how to understand sales cycles.  Another great resource for getting started is Jill Cataldo, founder of Super-Couponing.  You may have read her columns in your local newspaper.

With coupons, you have to be willing to give up some brand loyalties and decide what prices you are willing to pay and knowing how low of a price you can get on something.  It can be rather confusing at times, plus it’s a lot of work, but in the end, the payoff is worth it.

Salmon, Rice, and Roasted Cauliflower

12 Sep

I decided to try something new with my cauliflower from 9/10 Bountiful Baskets.  I had seen a post about roasted cauliflower on the Bountiful Baskets Facebook page, so I went to my go-to site for recipes, allrecipes.com, to get ideas on how to season and roast the cauliflower.  I decided I would serve it as a side to salmon, along with a box of long grain and wild rice.

For the roasted cauliflower, cut the head of cauliflower into even sized florets and preheated the oven to 400 degrees F.  I added 3 Tbsp of olive oil and 1 Tbsp of minced garlic to a gallon size bag. Then, I added the cauliflower florets to the bag and shook to coat them.  I added them to a baking pan I had sprayed with cooking spray, then sprinkled on some rosemary, about 1 tsp worth. I put the pan in the preheated oven.  After 10 minutes, I stirred the cauliflower.  I returned it to the oven for another 10 minutes, and the cauliflower had started to brown.  I removed from the oven and set my broiler to low. I then sprinkled 1/3 cup of Parmesan cheese and 1 1/2 tsp parsley.  I put the pan under the broiler for another 5 minutes until the Parmesan cheese had started to melt and the cauliflower was golden brown.

While the cauliflower was in the oven, I started on rice and the salmon.  The rice was a boxed mix, so I just followed the directions on the box.  The salmon I had on hand was frozen individually, and I thawed by putting in a sink of cold water for about 20 minutes.  While it was thawing, I started heating my George Foreman grill.  I cut open the packages and dried using paper towels.  I brushed olive oil on both sides, this salmon did not have scales on one side like it sometimes does.  If there are scales, I brush the olive oil only on the non-scale side.  I seasoned it with lemon pepper seasoning, then put them on the grill.  In just under 10 minutes, the salmon is done when it flakes easily.

In about 45 minutes, I had a filling meal.  Salmon is one of K’s favorites, so I try to make it 1-2 times a month.

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BBQ Chicken and Cornbread

11 Sep

I had some broccoli left from 8/27 Bountiful Baskets that I had chopped and frozen.  I love making Broccoli Cheese Cornbread with it, so I needed to decide on a main dish.  I have a lot of barbecue sauce that I got free with coupons, plus we had some buns that we needed to use up. So, I decided I would make shredded BBQ chicken in my slow cooker, which was perfect because I was going to be gone all afternoon co-hosting a baby shower and needed a low maintenance dinner.

To make the BBQ chicken, I first sprayed my slow cooker with cooking spray.  Next, I took frozen chicken out of the freezer and ran it under cold water to remove some of the ice.  I didn’t defrost it first, I put it in the slow cooker still frozen.  I have found that it still cooks thoroughly, so I skip the step of defrosting if I forget to get it out of the freezer or decide last minute what I’m making.  I then poured a whole 18oz bottle of barbecue sauce over the chicken.  I set it to low and set my timer for 6 hours (my slow cooker is a programmable one that cooks for the set time, then switched to the Keep Warm setting until you are ready to serve).  Once I was ready to finish up dinner, I shredded all the chicken and stirred well in the sauce.  This was then served on hamburger buns.

For the broccoli cheese cornbread, the broccoli was already chopped, so I just had to mix the ingredients.  This recipe calls for cottage cheese, which I thought seemed strange  at first, but it helps keep the cornbread really moist.  Here is how it is made:

 

Broccoli Cheese Cornbread

What you Need:

  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup cottage cheese
  • 1/2 cup shredded mild cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted
  • 1 (8.5 ounce) package dry cornbread muffin mix (I use Martha White, but Jiffy makes a mix as well)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1  1/2 cups chopped broccoli

How to Make it:

  1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease an 11×7 inch baking pan.  (You can use a 13×9 pan, but the cornbread will be pretty thin and you may need to adjust your cooking time.)
  2. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs.  Mix in cottage cheese, shredded cheddar cheese and butter. Stir in the cornbread muffin mix and salt. Fold in the broccoli. Pour batter into prepared pan.
  3. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan comes out clean.
Here is how it all turned out.  Both girls ate it!

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Basket Breakdown 9/10/2011

10 Sep

This week I contributed $15 for the conventional basket, plus the $1.50 handling fee, so $16.50 total.  Here is what I got at Bountiful Baskets this morning.

I got a head of lettuce, spinach, green beans, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, table grapes, peaches, pears, bananas, figs, and plums.

The lettuce and spinach I washed and dried, so wish I had a salad spinner to help with drying.  Then, I wrap it in paper towels and put it in gallon size zipper bags, making sure to let as much air out as I can.  It really helps keep it fresh longer.  Cauliflower, I might try making roasted cauliflower as a side to salmon and rice.  The sweet potatoes, I will probably make sweet potato fries as a side to cheesy spinach burgers.  Green beans, I might blanch and freeze.  I’m still working on ideas for the figs, possibly a fig cake or cookies.  We’ll see how the week goes for cooking!

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Mashed Potatoes

10 Sep

We are still trying to get through all the potatoes we have, so with last night’s dinner, I made mashed potatoes.  I used to just make them from a box or a package because I thought making them from scratch took too long.  And, it really is a time-consuming process, so I usually have to plan ahead and start them before anything else.  My favorite potatoes for mashed potatoes are Yukon Gold.  I also really like red potatoes and leave the skins on with those.  But, we have russet potatoes, which make pretty good mashed potatoes too.

What You Need:
– 2 pounds potato of your choice
– 1/2 cup milk
– 1/2 stick of butter

How to Make it:
Wash, peel, and dice the potatoes.  Add them to a large pot and add water to about 1 inch above the potatoes.  Bring to a boil, then turn heat to medium-high and keep at a rolling boil.  It’s important to find the right amount of heat or you will find the water boiling over the sides of your pot.  Continue to boil until potatoes soften, about 20-30 minutes.  Drain water.  Mash the potatoes, then add in the milk and butter.  Stir thoroughly until well blended together.

If you like, you can add in some parsley, and/or salt and pepper.  I try not to go overboard on spices though, I don’t want to over-season things.  I figure salt and pepper can be added after serving to a certain person’s taste.  I serve mashed potatoes with a variety of dishes, and do it this way more often since I am trying to use less pre-packaged foods.

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Strawberry, Blueberry, and Banana Smoothies

10 Sep

Last night was one of those nights where I was lost on what to cook.  I had ideas, but needed to run to the store if I wanted to be able to make any of them.  K was whiny after school, and it’s probably better that we didn’t go because it has been raining all evening.  My girls were both getting hungry, so I decided to make them smoothies.  I still have plenty of strawberries and blueberries in my freezer, I bought them back in June/July when both were really cheap.

I added about 1 1/2 cups of frozen strawberries, 1/2 cup frozen blueberries, and 1 banana to my blender.  I poured in milk until it came up to about the 2 cup line on my blender.  If you use fresh berries instead of frozen, you will need to add in 1/2 cup of ice.

I then turned it on and pureed until well blended.  Both girls were very happy!

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Steak, Egg, & Potato Burritos

9 Sep

For last night’s dinner, I decided that I would make burritos.  I had large flour tortillas in my freezer from 8/27 Bountiful Baskets.  I also had steak leftover from a couple of nights ago, plus the roasted corn salsa I made.  I had roasted Poblano peppers on the grill last week that had been in my 8/27 Bountiful Baskets Mexican pack.  And, we need to work through the 15 pounds of potatoes we still have.

First, my brother-in-law helped by washing, peeling, and dicing the potatoes, about 2 pounds of russets.  I put some olive oil in a large skillet and started cooking half of the potatoes.  After cooking for a few minutes, I added some diced onion and the Poblano pepper.  I cooked until the potatoes started to soften and brown, then added in the cut pieces of steak.  Meanwhile, in a separate skillet, I scrambled 6 eggs.  I mixed this all together in a bowl and started the process again to use up the other half of the potatoes.  I had to do it in 2 parts because my pans weren’t big enough for all of it at once.

Once the filling was complete, I cleaned the large skillet and added it to medium-low heat.  I placed a tortilla in the pan, added some of the filling toward one side of the tortilla, and sprinkled on Mexican blend cheese.

Fold over the side of the tortilla closest to the filling over the filling.

Next, fold over the top and bottom of the tortilla.

Finally, fold the section with the filling over to complete the burrito.

Brown on that side for a few minutes, then flip the burrito over and brown on the other side for a few minutes.  Remove from pan and serve.  I served mine with roasted corn salsa over it.

Yum!  Since I get 3 dozen of the large tortillas in the tortilla pack from Bountiful Baskets, I’m always playing around with fillings for burritos.

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Huggies Deal at Target

8 Sep

There is a great deal on Huggies Slip-On diapers this week at Target!  If you haven’t tried these new diapers yet, they are a lot like the Huggies Pull-ups, except that they are more absorbent like a diaper.  I like them for S right now, she’s not really showing a lot of interest in using the potty, but likes to occasionally sit on the potty and pretend.  It’s a pain to take off and put a regular diaper back on, but since she’s not really going on the potty yet, the Pull-ups don’t absorb well enough.  I have heard mixed reviews on how well other people like them, but if you need diapers, these are fairly cheap to at least try to see how they work.

Buy 2 big packs of Huggies Slip-On diapers at Target, $19.79 each
– Use 2 $3/1 Huggies Slip-On diapers from 8/14 Smart Source
– Use 1 $2/1 Huggies Slip-on diapers Target store coupon (I only say 1 in this scenario because the Target coupon is limited to 1 per transaction)
Pay $31.58, get $10 Target gift card back

Now, to make this an even better deal, if you have a Kroger family store near you, like Fry’s Food Stores, stop in there and purchase a $25 Target gift card first to use on this diaper purchase.  The 4x fuel points promo is still running right now, so you will get 100 points for the purchase of the $25 Target gift card, which will get you $.10 per gallon on your next fuel fill up at a Fry’s fuel station, or select Shell and Circle K fuel stations.

This deal is good through September 10, 2011.

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Dehydrating fruit

7 Sep

Each week in Bountiful Baskets, I get a nice assortment of fruit.  It mostly gets eaten outright, but lately it’s been tough for us to get through it before it goes bad.  Or, it’s just something we don’t particularly like a lot.  This week and last week, I got pears and nectarines that have sat, and the plums I got last week were starting to not look great anymore.  While trying to decide what to do with the pears, my friend D got a new fruit dehydrator to make raisins with the grapes we got.  I decided to ask to borrow it to at least dehydrate my pears and I picked it up yesterday.  Since you need the base and at least 4 trays, I decided I would try doing the nectarines, plums, and a couple bananas, plus we ended up putting a Granny Smith apple in too.

For the pears and the apple, I got out our peeler/corer/slicer.  Seriously, one of the best inventions for prepping pears and apples.  My girls love helping me use it.

Next, the pears, apples, and nectarines all need to be pre-treated to prevent them from browning.  There are a variety of options to do this, but I chose soaking them in lemon juice.  D had dehydrated her pears and dipped them in lemon juice, but felt like the lemon taste stayed with them, so I diluted my lemon juice with water, 50/50 ratio.  I left it in there about 5 minutes.

The plums I cut in half and removed the pits, the bananas I cut into 3/8″ slices.

I arranged it all on the trays, stacked the trays, plugged it in, and flipped the switch.

I let it run overnight, approximately 10 hours and here is what I woke up to.

It’s a browner than I wanted it to be, but it’s still sweet and full of flavor.  I think I may have left it in the dehydrator too long, probably should have started it later in the evening.  Also, I wonder if some of it was not in the lemon juice long enough or if my diluting the lemon juice had some effect.  Still a good experiment and thanks to D for letting me borrow the dehydrator!

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