Coffeecoffeecoffeeeeeee DEAL

Everyone who knows us knows we drink a LOT of coffee.

So it's only natural that when I find a good deal I jump on it.

Right now there is a $1.50 off any Folgers printable coupon available- http://bit.ly/ZRga0E

Not that big of a deal you think? Well they are also on sale for $5.99 at Nichols through Wednesday, Which, BTW, I discovered runs the SAME ad as Jumbo's in Enid, and who knows how many other small grocery stores in Oklahoma. So go check it out! $4.49 for coffee that normally runs around $9. Not too shabby. I only wish I had another computer so I could print more than just 2 copies.

SSiS Update

So we've had some life interfering in my crafting schedule LOL

Nonetheless I have made some progress and some decisions. I found my knit yardage, picked fabric for several things, prewashed the stuff that I thought needed it, and starched the knits.

Yes. Starched. With an iron. I picked that tip up from Ashley of Lil Blue Boo when I bought some of her patterns a couple of years ago. It REALLY helps when you are trying to cut pieces out of knit scraps to be cutting starched fabric.

So I starched several t-shirt scraps which, along with the black knit yardage I bought for myself like 2 years ago and a large chunk of navy blue knit yardage I don't recall having but somehow have, will make K-Ro a navy maxi dress with coral accents, Bubba a navy short set with green accents, a navy t-shirt to go with some navy gingham shorts, and a couple of black t-shirts to be stenciled. Because I'm a glutton for punishment and am gonna attempt freezer paper stenciling again after the last miserable failure...

I also found the missing peach fabric and striped tee that I KNEW I had. See. I KNEW I had it LOL

As for wovens, I found a bright striped seersucker that I had forgotten about... I'm going to make an 8 panel skirt out of it, cut in such a way to make chevrons, and either pair it with or attach it to a black t-shirt. I also discovered the purple striped fabric from the last post will NOT work for the Purpledicular dress. After washing the texture changed dramatically. I am SO glad I prewashed it though. Think of how mad I would have been if I sewed it all up and THEN washed it and had the stripes all drawing up on themselves...

Now I'm off to my craft room again. I have to decide if I want to go ahead and start cutting (and thus counting) tonight. We have a full day of errands tomorrow, but I'm impatient LOL

Fabric

So I discovered I DO have a suitable striped fabric for a lazy version of the Purpledicular Dress. WooHoo! I did a significant destash last Fall, so I don't have nearly as much fabric as I DID. Nonetheless I have 16 candidates not counting the denim and the knits (which appear to still be packed... Whoops!)

1. Patriotic Print. This was a SERIOUS SCORE. I originally got something like 8 yards of this, plus a few flag panels, for $2.50! This is going to be the lining & pockets on overalls for E, and the skirt on skirtalls for K.
2. WILD heart print. I have, I think, 3 yards of this. I'm thinking it probably won't get used this time around because of just how wild it is.
3. Strawberry print. I originally bought TWENTY yards of this, some 8ish years ago... I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 8-10 yards left after I made a ton of tote bags out of it for Christmas a few years ago. It MIGHT become a dress, but I'm not sure. Yellow is not one of K's best colors...
4. Pre-made patchwork. I bought it at Hobby Lobby to make the skirt of a t-shirt dress for K. I'm assuming it will finally get to fulfill it's destiny if there is enough of it... She's grown a bit since then.
5. Forest green floral. Meh. It was on my rack so I snapped a pic, but I really don't have any plans for it right now.
6. Orange gingham with flocked white flowers. This came in the same lot with the other ginghams... I'm not too keen on orange.
7 & 8. Poly blends I bought on the $1 rack at Walmart a couple of summers ago. I've been saving these for maxi skirts for K.
9-11. Florals. I've had these for over 10 years... I like them, and they are lovely and Spring-y, but they are thin.
12-16. The Ginghams. Dark purple is a larger print. Light purple, light blue, and dark blue are tiny.

Looking over this I KNOW there is quite a bit still packed apparently. I have a king sized bedsheet I dyed pink, a yellow knit sheet, a deeeeep purple knit sheet, some olive knit yardage, some teal rib knit, and most importantly some peach floral poly blend that I bought at the thrift store that PERFECTLY matches a peach striped tee, which is also misplaced currently. I also have several bags of vintage fabric, but no plans for any of it for now... I'm hoping it's all in the tub with my collection of thrifted tees for recycling.

Looks like today will be spent hunting up my fabric instead of getting started. Oy.

Sewing Summer in Seven

What's that you ask? THAT means that I am challenging myself to sew an entire summer wardrobe for both of my kids in just SEVEN DAYS. Can it be done? Sure! Will it get done? Well, that's a little more iffy LOL.

My Plan
For K-Ro, 10 dresses.
-Sleeveless Peasant Maxi adapted from the Flutter Sleeve Peasant Top and Marilyn's Slim Fit Peasant Dress
-T-Shirt Maxi adapted from the Layers of Sunshine Dress
-Another T-Shirt Maxi adapted from the Simple Dolman Sleeve Top
-Petal Maxi
-Halter style maxi - I'm gonna improvise based on a pic I saw and can't find again... Similar to the All American Dress, but with a crossover front.
-Knockoff Roller Skate Dress since I am too broke and/or cheap to pay $16 for one pattern. Even if it IS Oliver & S. Top part looks suspiciously similar to the aforementioned Layers of Sunshine, but in woven instead of knit...
-2 of Gracie's Must Have Summer Maxi Dresses with different prints that I have been saving for this very purpose. Or I miiiiiight make one a Twirly Dress instead.
-Something fancy, ruffly, and altogether over the top girly. Like the halter dress, I have a picture in my mind of one I saw but can't find again...
-Maybe a Purpledicular Dress if I can get some good striped fabric... I'm not ambitious enough to make my own!
-Maybe a Spin Around Dress if I have a fabric I like for it... Gotta stash dive.
-Also want to make a Racerback dress, but I dunno if I have enough knit fabric yardage. Might have to do it LBB style with lots of recycled bits LOL
-And last but not least, a denim skirt-all with patriotic lining and ruffle.
Funny that's a lot more than 10. Hmmm... Too much fun on Pinterest I suppose ;)


For Bubba, a good assortment of separates.
-First up, short-alls to match sister's skirt-all. Because I'm a dork like that and like to have the kiddos match for a special occasion LOL
-5 pairs of shorts recycled from old t-shirts
-5 pairs of shorts recycled from Daddy's old pants - I have several patterns I'm considering for these...
-6 t-shirts, probably recycled from old ones LOL
-2 button up shirts from this French pattern I spent 45 minutes trying to download. And promptly lost the link to the instructions...

Wish me luck! I'll try to take a few pictures along the way if I can find my camera batteries...

 

Mercy...

It HAS been a while hasn't it? Sorry about that.

Although honestly who am I apologizing too? Is there anyone still following me?

I have a very ambitious plan for the next few days... So if you're out there, stick around! I'm back, at least for a little while.
 

Weekly Menu

So we're not much on a set menu. I mean, what if I have chicken planned and all the sudden get a craving for burgers? Or what if I miscalculate and some of my produce is on the verge of expiring?

I have found though, that it's fairly easy for me to plan 7 days worth of food and then choose one of those 7 each day... Makes grocery list making and shopping a LOT easier.

So for this week I planned:
Breakfast:
Weekdays-Cereal, fruit, & milk
Weekend- Sausage, eggs, biscuits, & gravy - & - Bacon, eggs, & toast
Lunches:
Chili Dogs twice, Sandwiches 3 times, & leftovers twice.
Dinners:
Chicken sandwiches & fries
Crunchy Taco Hamburger Helper (I add corn & black beans)
Buttermilk chicken, veggies, & mashed potatoes
Tacos
Italian Chicken, veggies, stuffing, & mashed potatoes
Burgers & fries
Bean or Lentil soup with ham and carrots

I had all the necesary meats other than breakfast stuffs in the freezer from earlier this month... I have tons of veggies in the freezer ALWAYS, and I got 20lbs of potatoes last week when they were on sale for $1.99/10lbs. I would have gotten 30 or 40lbs but I only had 2 hands and no buggy that day LOL! I've learned to make great fries from scratch now... The secret is to fry them twice. I'm debating experimenting with frozen fries... Perhaps baking them first, freezing, and cooking from frozen like the store-bought ones... Soon.

Today's Grocery HAUL

Okay, so maybe it's not THAT much, but for what I paid?

I shopped at Aldi, Murphy USA, and WalMart.

I got-
3lbs Bananas, 3 tomatoes, 4 peaches, 1lb strawberries, 1.5lbs grapes
16oz sour cream, sliced cheese, 1lb butter, 1 gal milk, 8oz shredded cheese, YoToddler 4pk
2 bags chips, 2boxes cornbread mix, bread, hot dog buns, self rising flour
bologna, bag of chicken patties (2 meals worth),
2 pkts of Peanut Butter & Co., mayo, mini marshmallows
5 x 32oz Powerade, energy shot, monster slim jim, & 2pks cigs (for Rickey... blech.)

Total spent- $30.75

My big sense of accomplishment though, comes from Wal-Mart, where I discovered a coupon money-maker all by myself! There is a Peanut Butter & Co coupon floating around the net for $1 off any. No size restrictions. My Wal-Mart carries single serve packets for $0.68 each. 2 prints of the coupon = $0.64 profit from Dark Chocolate Dreams LOL!

The Murphy trip was all about freebies too... Rickey needed cigs anyway, and I had gotten some Murphy coupons in the mail the other day... The Monster Slim Jim & the energy shot were both free.

All told I saved $11 in coupons today, and everything I bought was something we will actually use this week rather than taking up space with a stockpile.

Next time I'll try to get a picture before I put it all away...


UPDATE: The PB&Co coupon came from their Facebook page.

Ingredients

I realized I should probably include a list of recipes and ingredients for my 2 day cooking spree...

I'm making:

1. Split Pea Soup
2. Beans
3. Mexican Beans
4. Refried Beans
5. Buttermilk Chicken
6. Italian Chicken
7. Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Pancakes or with oatmeal
   
8. Half Wheat Biscuits
9. Taco Kits
10. Burritos
11. Breakfast Burritos (if I have time)
    

Shopping List:

If you haven't mad a ham lately, I recommend buying a small (4-5lb) bone-in picnic ham and cooking it a day or two before. Reserve the bone and about 1lb of ham. Or you can just buy a ham hock & ham steak...

• 1lb split peas
• 1qt chicken broth
• celery
• garlic
• 4lbs dried pinto beans
• 2 cups salsa
• 1qt Buttermilk
• Dijon Mustard
• 16oz bottle Italian Dressing
• Chocolate chips
• Tortillas- I'm starting with 20 white & 20 wheat
• 6lbs Taco Seasoned Turkey (or plain ground turkey and taco seasoning)
• Breakfast meat- I'm using ham sandwich meat because I forgot sausage LOL

Things I usually keep on hand:

• Whole Wheat Flour
• 18 eggs
• Milk
• Oats
• 1lb real salted butter
• olive oil
• baby carrots
• shortening
• baking powder
• onion
• Sauce packets from Taco Bell- They ask if you want sauce and when you say yes they toss in a handful for 2 tacos. I always have leftovers LOL!

Freezer Cooking Part One

Me style.

After my experiment with ground beef last fall I kinda let freezer cooking fall by the wayside. Here lately I have been reading a lot about it. Mostly on blogs from couponers. Which is another new hobby I've picked up, I'll have to go into detail on it later. For now, a tale of big batch cooking.

Today started with Split Pea Soup. I used leftover ham & the bone from the Orange Glazed Ham I made last Sunday. It was super easy by the way, 1/4 cup brown sugar in the bottom of the crock pot, 3/4 cup brown sugar mixed with 1/2 can concentrated orange juice and poured over the ham as glaze. Cook on low for about 4-5 hours.

Back to the Split Pea Soup. I used the recipe posted by Emily of One Lovely Life. Only difference was that I added 4oz of finely chopped baby carrots in with the onion & celery, and I used garlic powder as I forgot to get whole garlic... Turned out DIVINE! and because Rickey won't touch it, it made enough for Robyn and I to have for dinner twice. In fact we ate half for dinner tonight before putting the other half in the freezer.

I put 4 lbs of pintos to soak... You need a BIG pot for this... I ended up using my crock pot for half and a mixing bowl for the other half as my big pot was busy with pea soup...

While the soup was simmering and the beans were soaking I divided 5 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breasts into 1 lb bags.
I divided a bottle of Italian dressing between 2 of the bags, squeezed the air out, & froze.
Then I mixed 2 cups of buttermilk, 1/2 cup of dijon mustard, and 1/2 tbsp each salt & pepper. I divided this mixture evenly between the remaining 3 bags, squeezed, sealed, & froze.

These aren't really MEALS per se, more just timesavers. The Italian chicken is fairly simple- Thaw 24 hours in advance, pour in pan, bake. The buttermilk chicken (which BTW came from My Little Bit of Life) is more versatile. Thaw 24 hours in advance of course, but then it's just marinated chicken. I plan to use 1 bag for chicken nuggets, 1 for buffalo bacon ranch chicken, and one for who knows what ;-D

After the chicken was in the freezer I had a bit of a break. From the kitchen at least. I had to feed the baby HIS lunch LOL.

When I decided the beans had soaked enough, I started the long haul. I drained and rinsed them, then measured out 2 bags of 4 cups each. I added 2 cups of water to each bag, then squeezed, sealed, and froze.

I set the remaining beans to cook with just a little salt.

When they were done enough I drained them, keeping 1.5 cups of the liquid back. I measured out 9 cups, put them in the crock pot on high along with 3/4 cup butter, and mashed them as best as I could by hand.

To the last of the beans I added 1 cup salsa, .5 tbsp cumin, 1tbsp onion powder, and .5 tbsp garlic powder. I mixed this up well and added back the 1.5 cups cooking liquid. I divided this mixture between 2 bags; it worked out to 2 cups per bag.

Back to the crockpot, I continued to stir occasionally as the beans and butter cooked for about an hour. Then I got out my mixer and gave them a whirl because I was impatient. I added some garlic salt, and .5 tbsp chili powder, and let them simmer for about another hour. I filled 2 bags of 2 cups each for freezing, and put the last of the beans in a bowl for making burritos tomorrow.

And now it's BEDTIME. I'm beat, and it's storming. I have a feeling I'm gonna sleep like a ROCK.

How to make 8 meals for a family of four from 5 lbs of ground beef

A little trick I picked up from everydayMOM- I had to modify a bit to fit my family's taste, and the fact that my husband likes more meat than her kids do LOL

Divide your roll of ground beef into 5 individual pounds.

Cook 2 pounds with only light seasoning. Divide in 3 bags and freeze. Use for shepherd's pie, cheeseburger pie, and spaghetti.

Mix remaining 3 raw pounds with
1.5 cups milk,
1.5 cups shredded cheese,
3 eggs, and
1 sleeve of saltine crackers that's been put through the food processor.

Mix well; measure out 12 half cup portions and freeze for individual meatloaves. A muffin tin is great for this.

Divide remaining meat mixture into 8 portions, shape into burger patties, and freeze.

With the addition of a LARGE batch of mashed potatoes, 4 pounds of frozen veggies, spaghetti, spaghetti sauce, fries, buns, lettuce, tomatoes, and the ingredients for Cheeseburger Pie you end up with-
Burgers twice,
Meatloaf 3 times,
Spaghetti,
Shepherd's pie, and
Cheeseburger pie.

Talk about stretching your food dollar!