Savings Angel

If you aren't interested in coupon savings feel free to skip this post :-)

This week, my goal was to try and eat what we had at home and keep the grocery bill low.  I didn't do as well as I would like and I noticed some flaws in my "system" but this is a learning process.  If I don't take specific time each week and really work on the menu/grocery list/coupons, than it doesn't go well at the store.  This week, because my mentality was to use stuff up at home, I didn't pay attention to the other items so much and in the end, it kinda backfired on me.   My total bill was around $80.00 and I was hoping for more of about $50.00 . . .but I still saved money with SavingsAngel.  The picture above shows items that would have cost $26.04 but I paid $14.78.  Most of the items are things we will use up this week, actually, so those are really good savings. 

This week was Meijer's "buy 10 get the 11th item free" week.  There are pros and cons to this sale.  I feel like I HAVE to buy 10 things or it isn't worth the 11th item but more times than not I ended up with one item over OR one item under because I grabbed the wrong item (Did that tonight!)  There are some great deals to be had but you have to check the original prices.  I picked up some of those Handi-Snacks (Cheese and Crackers) for $1.00 a piece and they normally run $2.17 but they also had a few other things for $1.00 that were either $1.00 normally OR were less than $1.00. 

Throw in all of the above with the fact that it is pouring outside, my sidewalk has water covering it that covered the tops of my shoes, my garage is becoming a swimming pool, and I really didn't want to go to the store tonight and I'll chalk this one up as a "better luck next week" kind of week :-)  I must add that I wish this rain was snow - when there is still 6-8 inches of snow in my yard, the last thing I want is rain because the only place for it to go is my sidewalk, garage, or please no . . my basement (none yet!!) Sorry all of you snow haters but this rain is a nightmare right now.  It needed to wait until the snow melted :-( 

So on that note - I'll enjoy my Chocolate Haagen-Dazs Ice cream I got for a buck ( a whole whoppin' 3.6 oz!) and relax for a few before hitting the hay!!

Chicken Pot Pie and Country Cinnamon Swirl Bread

We had a yummy dinner so I wanted to share the recipes with you!

I found this great recipe for Chicken Pot Pie over at Superchikk, one of the fun blogs I follow!  I love that it is easy, quick to throw together and easy to freeze :-)

Chicken Pot Pie
2 Pie crusts
1 egg (for egg wash)
1/2 bag frozen mixed vegetables (corn, carrots, peas, green beans) (You can also use canned Veg-All or toss in whatever you have in the fridge/freezer)
1/2 – 1 cup Southern Style Hash Browns (I just dump these in until I think there’s enough)
1-2 chicken breasts (or whatever kind of chicken/turkey you want to use). I usually cut the chicken into small chunks and sauté with minced garlic and pepper. You can leave it raw in small pieces and bake it in the pot pie, but you have to be sure it gets thoroughly cooked. I’ve never had trouble with it, I just prefer to cook it ahead of time when I can.
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup (or so) sour cream
Salt and pepper to taste; any other seasonings desired

To prepare:
Cook the chicken with garlic and pepper.
Dump soup & sour cream in a bowl and stir together. Add salt, pepper and any other seasoning desired.
Add frozen veggies, potatoes and chicken, stir until all combined. The mixture should be thick.
Place bottom crust in pan; Brush egg wash on the inside of the bottom pie crust.
Dump the veggie mixture into the crust and smooth.
Roll out the top crust. Brush egg wash on one side, place the egg wash side down on the pot pie.
Cut off excess crust, crimp pie crust as desired. Brush egg wash on the top of the crust. Cut slits to vent.
(I put a foil ring around the edge so it doesn’t brown too quickly)
Bake at 375 for 45 min – 1 hour, until crust is golden and the insides are bubbly

Yummy!  We all enjoyed this alot!

The finished pie before it was cut

My Notes:
This is great just as it is!!  I actually used to leftover pieces of KFC chicken (two breast pieces) and it was perfect!!

And this great recipe for Country Cinnamon Swirl Bread comes from AllRecipes.com. 

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/3 cups sugar, divided
• 1 egg
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, 1 cup sugar and egg until blended. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to egg mixture alternately with buttermilk. In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon and remaining sugar.

2. Pour a third of the batter into a greased 8-in. x 4-in. x 2-in. loaf pan; sprinkle with a third of the cinnamon-sugar. Repeat layers twice. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely

My Notes:  This is so easy and so yummy!  My kids just love it!!

I'm linking up with Comfy in the Kitchen!

Tot School (and a giveaway to check out!)

First up, I wanted to share a great link where you can download some free books to help with beginning reading.  Looking at them, they are more than just for reading - you can use them with the beginner talkers to help them identify objects and learn new words.  Right now both of my boys love to imitate things - Nate does more sounds and Josh does more words but either way they both are learning from all of the things we say!  So, check out this link and download the free books :-)  Check out All about spelling for these free downloads.

This is just one of the two stories you can download.

Second, I wanted to share a few things from our week.  I don't have pictures of us playing anything only because I keep forgetting to get the camera out in the middle of our stuff.  I do have pictures of our stuff though :-)

This was my first time making a Tot Book.  I had to studied the picture 1+1+1=1 for quite awhile trying to figure out exactly how she made that lap book.  The pictures made it look bigger than it really was but after reading the instructions, staring at the picture for what seemed like forever, and just using my brain, I figured it out :-)  I thought I would share some pictures of what I did and also what I learned for next time.  The first Lap Book that I made was based on Nemo.

 This first step was the hardest for me - I finally figured out that you had to cut a regular letter size file folder in half.  (See how that 1/2 looks almost like a whole file folder - or is it just me???)

 Than, I overlapped them and used packing tape to hook them together.  By doing this, the outside flaps will fold over each other.

 You can get all of the printouts shown here from the 1+1+1=1.  I printed out each of the pages on card stock and laminated them.  Above are the Numbers with Nemo pages.  I stapled them together on the edges and than used packing tape to adhere the back page to the file folder.

 This is my finished book - I just printed that picture from Google Images. 

 Now, I put my two file folders backwards so it opens to the right first . .. oops!  The Names I did slightly different than pictured on the above mentioned site.  She had stapled them together but my weak stapler could not handle that much thickness so instead I used my trusty key rings and hooked the pages together that way.  I actually used Velcro on the last page to adhere it to the file folder that way we can actually pull it out of the book if we want to. 

 The left side has Nemo's Colors and Nemo's ABC's.  I love the accordion style folder. 

The finished "Numbers with Nemo" section.

The biggest thing I learned was that I should print the pages on standard typing paper, not card stock.  The lamination makes them strong enough to handle but not so thick for the items that need to be folded.  Also, double sided tape is a MUST for these books.  It holds things together well without folding tape over.  I did wonder if Rubber cement might hold the books to the file folder better  . . .so I might pick some up and experiment with it just to see how it works.

I love these little lap books because there are so many things for little eyes to look at!  Josh was very interested in this as I was putting it together and he recognized the characters from his favorite movie :-)

This is another activity that Josh has enjoyed - he loves to say the letters.  These come from the St Patrick's Day packet from Musings of Me.  I love that the cards are the size of 1/2 sheet of a paper.  I think I'm going to pick up some small Velcro circles so that Josh can match the shamrocks to the cards and stick them on.  He likes Velcro :-)



I also put this file folder game together that you can find at Christian Preschool Printables.  The true purpose of this game, matching odd and even numbers, is something that my kids are quite ready yet but, I like that he can do number recognition.  These games are awesome because they are so easy to put together.  Just print the pages from the site. I than laminated them and adhered them to the file folder with double-sided tape.

I used a snack size baggy adhered with Velcro to hold the gold coins.  I think I may print a second set of coins so that he can match numbers to numbers for now but we'll see :-) 

So, that's what we are working on so far.  As I knew would happen we haven't gotten through a lot this week due to being gone one day and the flu hitting my little guy on Wednesday but he has enjoyed some time with these activities.  I will try to do better with getting some "action" photos next week!!

Also, one of my favorite blogs, Musings of Me is hosting a CSN store giveaway for a gift certificate!  I've checked out the stores and there is a ton of things that you could get :-)  So check out her site and add your comments for a chance to win (Notice I put this at the end of my post . . .I hate making my odds go down LOL)   Really, check out her site - it is awesome!!

One last misc piece of info - did you know that the ABC song and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star have the same melody?  Go ahead, sing them, you know you want to? LOL Seriously - I did not know that until today; to make it worse - Mr. Music aka as my husband didn't believe me when I told him so we each had to sing one of the songs at the same time. . .. hahahaha

What I'm Reading

What I'm Reading!

Well, I'm a little behind on posting what I've been reading so I thought I had best get this post up now since I'll have another to post soon! 

What it's about: When There's Nothing Left But Memories... Andie Phelps is the envy of Santa Barbara. A devoted mother with a loving son and a successful husband, her greatest joy comes from reaching out to others... Melanie Johnston is the envy of no one. A single mom who works long hours to pay the bills, and her greatest joys relate to her teen daughter and son. Then the accident that changes everything. When opposite worlds collide, the impact reaches far beyond these mothers' personal losses. Two wounded women...Two families seeking hope...A community torn apart... How far will they go to fulfill...A Promise to Remember.

This is a 2nd read for me and well worth it.  I like the fact that you know from the beginning what the loss is for each of them and the story deals with the walk they each walk and the healing each family receives.  It is a realistic story and reminder of what true Christianity is about - the walk, not the talk.  I would recommend this book for a good read on a snowy afternoon (or on a sunny beach, soaking up the sun LOL)

Letter Perfect by Cathy marie Hake -

Ruth Caldwell has always tried to live up to her mother’s expectations of what a lady should be…often with less than impressive results. But when she’s forced to journey west to meet the father she’s never seen, Ruth hopes that this might be the place she’ll finally fit in. But her arrival brings about more mayhem than even Ruth is used to. She soon meets Josh McCain, the son of her father’s business partner, but discovers some startling news: Her father passed away years ago. And though Josh urges Ruth to claim her inheritance, he grows suspicious of something more sinister at hand when her "accidents" seem to go beyond Ruth’s normal bumbling ways and leave her very life in danger.

This is another 2nd read for me, and will be my last 2nd read for awhile - I have some new books to read, thanks to my mom!  Anyway, this is another fun read.  I will say that the 2nd half of the book gets a little "silly" and isn't as interesting of a read but the story is still cute.  Would I recommend it?  Yes, but just know that the story line does get a little silly :-)

 This is the last book I have by Cathy Marie Hake and it is another cute read.  Here is the basic overview of the book:

When Britisher Lady Sydney Hathwell's father dies, the American who planned to wed her suddenly reneges. Stranded in America and penniless, Sydney contacts a relative in Texas who, mistaking her male-sounding name, invites his "nephew" to join him on his ranch. "Big Tim" Creighton, however, is appalled when this mincing fop arrives at Forsaken. He determines he'll turn Fancy Pants Hathwell into a man before the boss returns home. From the get-go, he has "the kid" mucking stalls, clearing and plowing a field, and assisting with a difficult calving. But when Sydney's true identity is uncovered, Tim resents being deceived. Yet in time, he also finds that he doesn't like all the attention Sydney garners now that she's wearing pretty gowns...Together Sydney and Tim will discover the importance of family and what it means to be a man--and a woman--of God.

This was another second read for me (ok, so I re-read one more since it was by the same author!).  I enjoy the lightheartedness of the book even if it is a little bit far-fetched but sometimes those are the "good" reads too!

 This is a brand new book!  It is the latest book in the series "A Cape Light Novel" by Thomas Kincaid and yes, I've ready them all!  Honestly, normally, when my mom passes on the latest book in the series, I re-read the entire set - which I believe is close to 10 books now.  The books revolve around the residents of the town of Cape Light and yes, the books build on each other.  If I were you, I would check out your local library and see if they have this set! Each book is a great read and I'm already looking forward to the next one.  (And no, I did not re-read the set this time since I had just re-read it a few short months ago!)

Finally, this is one of the books for my Jan-April reading list. (You can check out the complete list here.)  I loved this book - partly because it was written by Sandy Patti, whom I so enjoy, and more so because of her theme.  This book focus' on her "recent" Lap-band surgery and road through weight loss but more than that it talks about God's forgiveness and the path that so many have to take to get to the point of accepting themselves as "enough" for God.  Have you ever thought about that?  God doesn't ask for anything spectacular from us - we are "enough" for Him, just as we are - just the way he made us with just the talents he gave us.  Pretty extraordinary, isn't it?  I've always adored Sandy Patty - her music, her "realness" (is that a word) so when I saw this book released, I just grabbed it right up without even reading a peep about it but it was far better than I imagined.  I would recommend this to anyone but especially if you really struggle with your self view - I think she has some great words to help you! 

So what am I reading now?  I'm trying to concentrate on a few more books on my list before reading any more of the "light" stuff but it's hard - I like to read at lunch time . . .and the light stuff is more fun for that LOL.  I also just went through some books to pick out some titles for my next quarter of reading (yes I know it is early but in case I need to purchase any . . .I need to plan!).  And yes, I love to read hahaha.

What I'm Loving Wednesday

I'm loving that my husband found a great second car on Tuesday so I don't have to drive him to work at 3:45 in the morning :-)  Sure, the together time was great but pulling two kids out of bed and driving on some not so fun roads during the winter, not so great!

I'm loving that I started painting my kitchen!  Two cabinets down and, if I say so myself, it looks awesome.  I wish I could just take 3 days and get it all done but, patience is a good thing so I'll keep going one little cabinet at a time and it will be done before I know it!

I'm loving that my pantry and freezer are full thanks to SavingsAngel.com!  That coupon site has really helped me get awesome deals and sweet treats we couldn't get before!  This week I'm even going to shop my pantry and try buy very little at the grocery store :-)

I'm loving that we get a family day on Thursday!  The munchkin I normally watch is going to spend some time with his grandparents and my husband had already planned to be home that day so . . .we are spending the day as a family !

I'm loving watching my boys grow up - they learn something new every day; make some new discovery, facial expression, word - and I'm just soaking it up! 

What are you loving today?

Too Cute Not Too Cute

I was able to make quite a few crafts in January but when February hit I was busy with Valentine's and Birthday Ideas so my crafts got put on hold.  I've had fun searching for some great ideas and hope you enjoy them too!  Obviously, when I search for things, I look for things that I can make, wish I could make or that I could use in my own home.  It's always fun to look at all the creative ideas out there in blog land!


First up is My delicious ambiguity and she is sharing some great ideas for celebrating Dr. Seuss's birthday!  This is always a big day with the young elementary students.  I look forward to using some of these ideas in coming years.

Than, over at Creative passage is a great idea for necklace storage.  I'm currently looking for ideas for jewlery storage so I can see what I have which is why this caught my eye - this is something I could easily make and hang in my closet. 

Bella Before and After shares a great tutorial on how to line your kitchen drawers.  I love it for two reasons - one, I love the paper she used and want some and two, I'm on the front end of a kitchen redo and need something pretty to cover up the ugly wood that isn't being painted!  This is my solution :-)

Here's another idea that I love and fits in with my "Simplify" plan from Kara's Korner.  I want to put shelves on both boys bedroom walls to hold books (I LOVE books and so do they so far!).  I've seen the gutter shelves -made out of . . well . . .rain gutters.  This is the first tutorial I've seen for wood shelves and I really like how simple they would be to build.  I think I might be able to convince my husband I NEED these :-)

A Home Made by Kiki shares a super cute and easy idea for making a dog food can.  I've been looking at dog food/treat containers recently to make upgrades to my kitchen.  This is so cute!

Easter is just around the corner and Oopsey-Daisy gives a super easy tutorial to make a ruffled Easter Basket

She also gives some more great links for ideas to use for Dr. Seuss' birthday!

This is a super cute idea from over at Craftomaniac for making an adorable Alphabet Initial Wall Art.  She used just initials of her boys but i think you could do the whole alphabet . .. and I have an Alphabet fanatic in my house currently. . ..

This next one I had to share because I used to make these all the time back in high school.  They were used as a  party favor somewhere and I just loved the idea. Crafts by Amanda offers up a great tutorial for easy Leprochan hats!

This idea from A Creative Princess seriously made me laugh out loud and I WANT one!!  It is an excercise box - you just need to read her post - it will make you want one too!!

So, what are you going to make first??

Vanilla Buttermilk Cupcakes and "Magical" Frosting

For Nate's 1st birthday, I tried my hand at homemade birthday cake.  I was very disappointed in that they were extremely dry and . . . . well, horrible.  So, I had decided I need to find the perfect "white" cake recipe and the perfect chocolate cake recipe of this next year so that I have a "go to" recipe.  I did NOT think I would find one this quickly! 

I made this recipe for Vanilla Buttermilk Cupcakes recently and they turned out perfectly.  They were moist and slightly dense and so tasty!  I also experimented for the first time ever with Frosting and there is no word for this frosting other than "Magical".  It is soooo good!  It does take planning but is actually very easy to pull together as long as you read the recipe first and know what you have to do!

Both of these recipes come from Mels Kitchen Cafe

Vanilla Buttermilk Cupcakes
*Makes between 16-24 cupcakes
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 for light, aluminum or silicone muffin pans or 325 for dark, nonstick muffin pans. Line about 16-24 muffin cups with liners and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl as needed. Mix in eggs and egg yolk one at a time and then mix in the vanilla. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Combine. Add 1/4 cup of the buttermilk. Mix. Add another 1/3 of the dry ingredients. Mix. Add the final 1/4 cup of the buttermilk. Mix and then add the final 1/3 of the dry ingredients. Mix until combined and the batter is smooth. Spoon out batter into lined cupcake pan, filling only halfway or just barely over halfway.
Bake for about 15-18 minutes (depending on the heat of your oven based on the type of muffin pan you have), until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out with moist crumbs. Don’t over bake!
Remove the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely. Frost as desired

No, I did not make these LOL  These are from Mels Kitchen Cafe.  Once I master the cake and icing part - I do want to try my hand at making the cuties like these!

The Best Frosting (Or Magical Frosting)
*This frosting is so magically delicious, it would be perfect on everything from sugar cookies to pumpkin bars to cake. Options are endless!
*Note: this frosting takes a bit of advance planning since the frosting needs time to cool so plan ahead! Also, the frosting can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to one week. When ready to use, let the frosting stand at room temperature until softened, about 2 hours. Beat with stand mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about one minute. Finally, I pipe a lot of cakes for my kids’ birthdays (think: Spiderman covered in Wilton stars) and although I haven’t tried it, I highly suspect that an hour or so of chilling time will lend this frosting nicely to being piped. When I try it, because I will, I’ll update the recipe with my notes.

*Makes about 4 cups frosting (plenty for two 9-inch cake layers)

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk (I used 1% with stellar results)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
24 tablespoons (3 sticks) butter, cut into 24 pieces and softened at room temperature

In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cornstarch and salt. Slowly whisk in the milk until the mixture is smooth. Place a fine-mesh strainer over a medium saucepan and pour the milk mixture through the strainer into the saucepan. Cook the mixture over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture boils and is thick enough that it starts to become difficult to easily whisk. This could take anywhere between 5-10 minutes, depending on your stove, heat, etc. It should bubble quite a bit at the end (be careful of the splatters) and thicken considerably.

Transfer the mixture to a clean bowl and cool to room temperature – this is extremely important! If it is even slightly warm, the frosting won’t beat up properly. I refrigerated my initial mixture overnight. If you do this, make sure to pull it out in time to let it warm back up to room temperature. If you try to proceed with the rest of the recipe and the mixture is too cold, the butter won’t absorb into the frosting like it should.
Once the frosting is completely cooled to room temperature (it should have no hint of warmth at all!), beat the mixture with the vanilla on low speed until it is well combined, about 30 seconds (a stand mixer will work best for this). Add the butter, one piece at a time, and beat the frosting until all the butter has been incorporated fully, about 2 minutes. Increase the speed to medium-high and let the mixer work it’s magic. Beat the frosting for five minutes, until it is light and fluffy. Let the frosting sit at room temperature until it is a bit more stiff, about 1 hour. I suspect if you chill it for an hour or so, it would be stiff enough to actually pipe with instead of frosting with a rubber spatula.

Chocolate Version: Add 1/4 cup cocoa powder to the sugar, flour, cornstarch, salt mixture in the first step. Once the frosting has been mixed for five minutes and is light and fluffy, mix in 3 ounces of semisweet chocolate that has been melted and completely cooled to room temperature.
*Note from Mel: I made the chocolate version a few days after I originally posted this recipe and it is delicious! The color wasn’t quite as dark as I was hoping for; it definitely made for a lighter-colored chocolate frosting but the chocolate flavor is deep and terrific. I increased the melted chocolate to 4 ounces when I made it and may even do 5 ounces next time

My Notes:
1. I seriously could have eaten the bowl of frosting without a cupcake.  Yes, it was that good and I am not a frosting person at all.  My husband also said it was fantastic
2. I mixed up the cupcakes first and while they were cooking, I did the frosting.  When cooking it, it turns from "easy" to whisk to "not easy" to whisk almost all at once so don't walk away from it.
3. Once done, I just let both cupcakes and frosting cool on to room temp for a few hours and frosted them. (I did read recently that you can put the frosting bowl on top of a bowl with ice in it to cool it faster - haven't tried it but you could if you are in a rush!)

Next - I still need to try her chocolate cake recipe and another frosting recipe she has as well :-)
Enjoy!