Our Life Challenges

Grocery Trip Success

2009-03-14T17:35:00.000-07:00

I went grocery shopping and couponing today. I got some great deals. I got $199 dollars of stuff at Krogers for $54. Between the sale prices and the coupons I got a ton of stuff including razors for $1.49. I got cantelope for .88c each and some block provolone for $2.99 a lb at sprouts. A friend of mine has a kitchen aid slicer that I will slice the cheese with and freeze it.

I got some great deals at Walgreens on deodorant, we have plenty to get through summer now. I also got some stuff at walmart. Overall I spent about $140 and am completely stocked on alot of stuff.

2009-01-24T10:39:00.000-08:00

I made this recipe today. http://wowsroses.blogspot.com/2008/02/crockpot-chicken-enchiladas.html

To make it a really cheap meal use Chicken Thighs instead of Breasts. I use Chicken thighs in the crockpot instead of breasts in the crockpot for things that call for shredded chicken breast, like chicken tacos.

To make easy shredded chicken tacos, use a pack of chicken thighs, a packet of taco seasoning and a little bit of water. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours in the crockpot. It will smell heavenly. Use Flour tortillas and cheese and what ever toppings your family likes.

Using up Fruit

2009-01-18T10:47:00.000-08:00

I had about 6 or 7 pears that were about to have to be thrown out. I found the recipe below. It is cooking now. I hope it turns out good.

Easy Pear Cobbler

An easy pear cobbler recipe with butter and cake-like batter, along with fresh pears.

Ingredients:
2 to 2 1/2 cups sliced fresh pears
2 cups sugar, divided
4 ounces butter
3/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1 egg

Preparation:Mix pears with 1 cup sugar and let stand. Put butter in 2-quart casserole and place in 325° oven until melted. Combine all dry ingredients, including the remaining 1 cup of sugar. Mix well. Whisk together the milk and egg; slowly combine with dry ingredients to make a batter. Pour over melted butter. Do not stir. Spoon pears over the batter. Do not stir. Bake at 325° for 50 to 60 minutes, or until nicely browned and pears are tender.Serve hot or cold with ice cream or whipped cream.

2009-01-17T11:30:00.000-08:00

Well we've had a rough week.

I ended up with 2 stupid over draft fees due my stupidity and carelessness. Ugg.
I broke down and bought a starbucks coffee, but to my defense, I had to be at a sleep study on Wednesday night and slept like crap during it and didn't have my own coffee pot so I bought one on my way from the sleep study to work.

Another a brighter note, I'm cooking right now.

We have homeade chili & cornbread cooking and I'm using up my pears before they go bad and making a wonderful pear cobbler.

I have alot of laundry to fold today, yuck and some other misc stuff I need to get done.

I need to do the following today:

Fold and Put away laundry
Mop downstairs
Make Cobbler
Clean Downstairs Bathroom
Make Girl Scout Troop Folders
Update Girl Scout Spreadsheet with documents received
Send Girl Scout Troop Cookie Date Email
Watch Grey's and Private Practice
Find my table under all the misc Girl Scout Stuff
Sew on Patches and Petals on the two girls vests.

Going Good So Far

2009-01-13T14:25:00.000-08:00

Things are going good so far. I haven't had a Starbucks that I have paid for. We have not eaten out at all. Yay Us. I have balanced my budget. So far so good. We'll see if we can keep the momentum.

Our Challenges for the New Year

2009-01-02T07:45:00.000-08:00

A message board I am on is doing what is called a year without. Each person is making up their own rules to follow, some are harder than others. My family's rules are below.

No More Starbucks for me. This is HUGE for me.
One cup of coffee at home a day (for health and frugalness)
No More eating out at all except one lunch per paycheck each.
No more lunches bought from the school for the girls.
No More Buying new items unless we can't get it used except for Birthdays and Holidays
No More OverDraft Fees
To go to a Cash Based System except for Savings. We have been following Dave Ramsey vaguely in the last year but not whole heartedly
To actually build a savings account.
In an effort to go more green, we are cutting out paper towels, non green cleaners after they are gone, starting to recycle, and hopefully hang towels out this summer.
Lights will not be turned on until night
Heat will not be turned on until it hits 60 in the house. We need to wear layers
Air will not be turned on until it hits 85 in the house.
Limit the girls and myself to one bath or shower per day.

I only went grocery shopping yesterday and did not get anything that wasn't needed.

Our Family New Years Resolution

2009-01-01T12:53:00.000-08:00

My husband and I reviewed our budget and expenditures from last year. We don't eat out a lot like going to restaurants and sitting down. However, this review opened up our eyes to how much we get fast food like sonic, taco bell, etc as a quick fix for lunches on the run, or because we forgot to take our lunches.

We both agreed to only eat out once a month for lunch only. We can eat out on one of each of our paydays a month. HIm on his pay day and me on mine. No more than $10 for this lunch.

Today I made a bunch of lunches and put them in the freezer.

So far today I have made 10 small Philli Cheesesteaks, 10 small bean burritos, 10 containers of a bean enchilada dish I made up.

The cost per servicing for the Phili Cheesesteaks ended up being .63 cents per serving. That is amazing. The Steakums Phili Cheesesteak meat is almost $7 per box. Walmart now carries a generic brand that is 2.47 for the box of 16 packs of phili cheesesteak meat. I used a pack of 8 hoggie buns and cut 5 of them in half to make 10 small lunches, I used 2 of them whole for my husbands and mothers lunch today, this would have equaled 4 lunches in and of itself. They were just hungry and ate double portions. One hoggie will be used for two small italian subs for me. Keep in mind these are small servings as my husband is trying to cut back on his lunch size as he works a sit down job now and not a physical job like he used to.

I will be calculating the cost of the bean burrito's and enchiladas later.

One of my goals is to come up with a list of meals and the cost per serving.

New Years Cleaning Today

2008-12-29T11:50:00.000-08:00

I am doing lots of New Years Cleaning Today. I borrowed my MIL's steam cleaner and am cleaning the upstairs carpets. I added Lavender Oil to the cleaning solution to help keep it smelling fresh and deter any little critters.

We have been fighting lice in our household. My girls have alot of hair. It has been a hard battle as they aren't reacting to the chemical solutions. I did olive oil, peppermint oil, lavender oil, and tea tree oil combo last night and am spraying their beds with lavendar cleaning solution. It smells good at least.

Dinner - Dorito Chicken

2008-12-28T16:00:00.000-08:00

Tonights Dinner is Dorito Chicken and Garlic Herb Rice with Sliced French Bread.

Dorito Chicken is really easy. Most recipes call for Ranch Dressing however, my husband doesn't like Ranch so I do a modified version.

Preheat Oven to 425

Take 3 or 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts and sprinkle heavily with garlic powder and onion powder.

Pour 1/4 to 1/3 a bottle of Zesty Italian Dressing (Any Brand) into a bowl and crush several handfuls of dorito's on a plate.

Dip each chicken breast in the zesty italian and then roll in the crushed dorito's on both sides.

Take a baking dish and spread a thin layer of olive oil on the bottom to prevent sticking.

Place coated chicken in the dish and put rest of crushed dorito's on top. Put a thin layer of olive oil over the chicken to help it crisp up.

Cook for 30 minutes or so until chicken is done. Serve with rice and french bread.

My First Blog

2008-12-28T14:55:00.001-08:00

I have never blogged before. I have never kept a journal. I know lots of people who blog and I enjoy reading blogs so I thought I would try one.

This blog is about my family and our life challenges. Everything from being frugal, cleaning, parenting, cooking, etc will be posted about. I may rant and I may exclaim in happiness. I want to share our life with you and also have a journal for my girls to look back on.

I hope to post about the following things as main themes though:

Frugality
Our Attempt at Going Green
Cooking
Cleaning
Budgeting
Parenting

Well Here goes