Fruit and Yogurt Parfaits

We started off the week trying some new recipes.
My first attempt turned out great and the kids gobbled them up.
I'm not sure that you would consider this a recipe, I just had to put it together.

I began by thawing some frozen strawberries and blueberries. I got out my cute little cups(?) that we have never used and began with a layer of strawberries, then a layer of vanilla yogurt, then a layer of blueberries, and so on. It did not get in the picture,
but I let the kids top them off with some granola.

The kids loved it and it was less than 250 calories.
You could make it healthier by using a different kind of yogurt.

Super easy and better than some of the other junk my kids like to eat for breakfast.

Homemade Liquid Hand Soap

I read an article the other day about how the hand soaps that we use have too many chemicals in them and how antibacterial soap was really not good for us to use. I checked prices of several natural soaps and they were outrageous, so I started searching the internet for a recipe for hand soap. We really do not like bar soap, it's just not convienient. So, here is the step by step directions to make liquid hand soap. Thank you to www.littlehouseliving.com for the recipe.

I started by bringing to boil 8 cups of water.

While the water was coming to a boil, I used my grater to grate 1/2 a bar of a natural soap that I purchased at the nutrition store. The bar cost me $4, so The cost for this hand soap is $2, since I only used 1/2 the bar.

When the water comes to a boil, stir in your grated soap and continue to stir until the soap is dissolved. At this point, you can add some essential oils to change the scent of the soap if you choose. I added some vanilla and a small drip of spearmint.

Remove from heat and place a lid on the pot and let it sit for up to 3 days or until it becomes thick.

When I was finished, I used some containers that I had to store the soap in. You cannot purchase this much hand soap at the store for $2, so I am happy with my results.

Milk at Kroger

Super excited about the deals I got today at Kroger. I went in to get a gallon of milk and ran across an awesome deal! Horizon Organic Milk Singles on Sale for .25!!!! I got 18 of them and a gallon of milk. I had a coupon for $1.00 off the gallon of milk. I wish I had some Horizon milk coupons, but I didn't. However, I will be printing some and going back for more milk. My total came to $6.69! A savings of 21.34!!!!!

Kroger Deals! Mega Event!

I went to the grocery store yesterday afternoon with 3 kids in tow to just get a few things. I couldn't pass up the Mega event. There are lots of good deals out there.

I got all of the above items for $48.79, a savings of $45.13. For coupon matchups go to www.southernsavers.com and select Kroger. The Bertoli pasta at my Kroger had peelie coupons on them, so be on the lookout!

Pasta Sauce!

I saw a recipe on Food Network the other day and I had to try it. I have been looking for a good pasta sauce recipe for a while. I highly recommend this one with a few of my adjustments.

I began by roasting my eggplant and garlic. I left out the peppers, because we are not big fans of peppers. To roast the eggplant, you slice them in half and brush the cut side with EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) and salt and pepper. Place cut side down on pan. To roast the garlic, you cut the top of the garlic and put EVOO and rosemary on it. Wrap it in foil and place on pan with the eggplant. Cook at 475 for 40 minutes.



While that was cooking, I opened up 2 large cans of crushed tomatoes. The recipe calls for 1, but I wanted to make more sauce. I put those tomatoes in the blender and pureed them because we like a smooth sauce. I then put them in a pan on the the stove along with 2 cups of chicken stock. After the eggplant and garlic had cooled, I scooped out the eggplant and placed it in the blender with the garlic. I pureed them also and added them to the tomatoes.

Next I added the spices and let simmer. I also added 4 tablespoons of sugar.

My plan is to strain this sauce because we like it really smooth, and once it is cool put in 2 containers and store it for later. We will use it with spaghetti, lasagna, or maybe even as a pizza sauce. The total cost for this recipe was less than $4 because I had gotten the canned tomatoes on an awesome deal earlier in the year. You cant buy 2 cans of a good sauce for that! Plus, I know what is in this sauce. I controlled the ingredients.

Oh yeah, it even tastes good!

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

It is a lazy Sunday afternoon at our house. We came home from church, ate some sandwiches, and everyone has been doing their own thing. Hubby fell asleep on the couch while watching the Reds play, Todd is playing on the computer, and the girls are doing what they always do and making a mess of their room. I was surfing the internet looking at recipes and blogs and ran across this blog post and was intrigued. The kids have been taking their lunch quite a bit this year so far and I am sick of sending the same old things already. Several things caught my eye in this post, but one thing inparticular did because I could make them right now ~ muffins!! The kids have been asking for me to make muffins for a while, so why not make them now! In years past, I would have said, "Oh no, I can't make muffins, I don't have muffin mix". Now, I would never dream of buying a muffin mix unless they were on sale and I could get it free with a coupon. It just isn't cost effective. I have everything in my house to make homemade muffins already, why go buy a mix? I googled muffin recipes and I decided on two. The first one is from Food Network and I have to admit they turned out awesome! It is Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins. Then I looked around and noticed I had some bananas, so I decided on a banana muffin recipe. It was good, but not as good as the chocolate ones. I now have 22 muffins for my kids to eat for breakfast or to take in their lunch this week. Yummy!!! Now I am off to take a nap too!!

Another school year begins...........

School starts in a week and a half and we have a lot of changes going on in the Hall house this year.

My oldest, Todd, starts middle school, and I have to admit, I am nervous. In preparation for this transition, we did go out and add him to our cellphone plan. I couldn't stand the fact of him being away from me and not having a cellphone for emergencies. He is allowed to text, but does not have internet access. We also set him up email and a facebook account to interact with his friends, however it will be monitored VERY closely! Open house at Todd's school is Tuesday night and I am very anxious to see how that goes.

Emily is going into 3rd grade this year and I think she will do fine. She will be switching classes between teachers this year, so it may be a little transition. She is still as dramatic as ever and cries at the drop of a hat, so I just hope she will at least walk to her classroom by herself this year. (Working at your kid's school can be a blessing and a curse.)

My little Mahala is starting Kindergarten this year, and I know that she will do fine. She has been looking forward to this for years now. I am so thankful that I will be in the same building as her and can peek in on her from time to time.

Emily and Mahala's open house is Thursday night.

My busy time at work starts Monday. We have training all day on Monday, opening day for staff on Thursday, and the rest of my week will be full with entering new students and putting schedules in Infinite Campus. It is an exciting time and I am looking forward to it.

Tony is starting the year subbing for a 4th grade teacher at Eubank who is on maternity leave. He is pretty excited about it, I think.

Oh, and for those of you who haven't checked yet, the menu for the first day of school says spaghetti for lunch, which my kids will not eat, so I guess I will be packing lunches on the first day. Hope that is not an indication of how the rest of the year will go................

Free sample of Cheerios!!

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Get a free sample of Purex

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Kroger deals!!!

I've not blogged in a while. We have been super busy! I went to Kroger today and this is what I got.

I spent $11.57 OOP and saved $38.83 (78% savings)! Yes, I did get the milk and the kids already drank some before I took the picture.

My three favorite stores - Kroger, CVS, and Walgreens

At Kroger, I spent 45.62 and saved 63.31

At Walgreens I spent 14.84 and saved 45.10. Plus I received 6.00 in Register Rewards!

At CVS, I spent 1.03 and saved 12.19. I also received 3.00 in ECB to spend on my next shopping trip.

So, overall today, I spent 61.49 and saved 120.60. I have a total of 9.00 to spend in ECB and RR.
Awesome!

Last week deals!!

I had a good week at shopping last week.

CVS
3 Dove deodorants $.99 each
- 3 $1.00 coupons
= Free (only paid tax)

Blink Gel Tears $7.99
- $4.00 pealie coupon
= $3.99
and received a $7.99 ECB off my next purchase

Wal-Mart
2 Nivea bodywashes $3.00 each
- 2 $3.00 off coupons
= Free (only paid tax)

Walgreens
Stayfree pads $2.99
- $1.00 off coupon
= $1.99
and received $3.00 in RR off my next purchase

Total cost $5.98 + Tax OOP
I have $10.99 in coupons off my next purchase

Kroger and CVS

My first stop today was CVS. My total OOP was $1.40. My savings were $15.78. I also received $5 in Extra Care Bucks to use off my next purchase.


My next stop was Kroger. I spent $3.37 OOP and saved $26.92!

I was happy with my purchases today. A total of $4.77 OOP and a total savings of $42.70.

Kroger and Walgreens Again

Walgreens had an in ad coupon that made these 1.99 each. I then had a $1.00 off coupon for each of them, so I got these for $2.22 OOP and saved $10.00


At Kroger I got all this with the household mega event. I paid $9.60 OOP and saved $38.32!!!

Total OOP for the day $11.82.
Total Savings for the day $48.32

Kroger

Kroger has another mega event going. This one is for household items. I went today and just picked up a few things. I spent $6.30 OOP (out of pocket) and saved $25.36!
For more info on the deals go to www.southernsavers.com or www.classycouponclipper.blogspot.com.

CVS - on my birthday!

I already had my deals picked out at CVS and checked my email and the deals got sweeter! I had a $3 off coupon for my birthday! I got all this today for $3.96 and received $7 Extra Care Bucks to spend on my next purchase, so they actually paid me to take this stuff! Not bad. Happy Birthday to me!
I also had an email for my birthday for a B1G1 Blizzard from DQ! I will take advantage of that later in the week!

Kroger trip #3 - Saved 81%

This is my last trip on the Mega Event this week. I got all of this for $9.66. I saved $43.83. We have enough noodle now to last us a while!

Kroger Trip #2 - Saved 91%

I got all this for $1.39, I saved $14.80! The pasta and the tomatoes were all free, so all I paid for was the bleach!

Kroger - Saved 80%

Awesome trip to Kroger today. I got everything pictured including a 24 pack of bottled water for $10.86. I saved $45.27! I have more pasta coupons so I will more than likely make another trip tomorrow.
For details on the kroger deals, visit www.classycouponclipper.blogspot.com or www.southernsavers.com.

I Love Krogering!!!!!

So thrilled with my trip to Kroger this afternoon. I spent $13.36 and saved $26.94.

The pasta was on sale for $1.29 each and I had $1.00 off coupon for each that I clipped from a newspaper insert, so I got them for .29 each!
The febreeze was $3.49, I had $1.00 off ecoupon and $1.00 off paper coupon making it $1.49.
The butterfinger snackers were on sale 2/$1.00 and I had 4 printable coupons for $1.00 off/2 which made them free and then I had an ecoupon for $1.00 off Butterfinger, so they actually paid me $1.00 to take them.
The chicken had peelie coupons on them for $1.50 off chicken if you purchased the new Philadelphia cooking cream, so I did. The cooking cream was $2.50 and I had $1.50 coupon off each of those too, plus an ecoupon for .75 off.

Kroger and Walgreens

I went to Walgreen's again to use my other 2 coupons. I spent $4.92 OOP and saved $28.00

I was very pleased with my Kroger trip too. I had to buy a few things that I normally do not buy because we are feeding a family at church tomorrow after a funeral. I paid $36.74 OOP and saved $52.39. My favorite deals were Gillette deoderant that I made $2 on, Vitamins that I made .24 on and Tide Stain Release that was free. For more info on Kroger deals, go to www.classycouponclipper.blogspot.com.

Walgreens!!!

These were on sale at Walgreens for $3.99 each. I used one $6 off/2 coupons and only paid
$2.46 OOP. My total savings were $14.00!

Loving Walgreens this week. They have lots more great deals, but were out. They get a truck in on Thursday, so I am going to try again then.

Completed Closet

This is my new closet door finally painted and complete!!!!

Kroger and Dollar General

My first stop was Kroger. I got all this above for $38.32 and I saved $60.51.
Plus I got coupons for $6 off my next purchase.

At the Dollar General these boxes of Gain are $2.75, and you can use the $3 off coupons from Sunday's paper. I got this for 42 cents.

Kroger - 52% Savings

I bought all this at Kroger today for $27.27, and I saved $29.03!

Kroger Mega Event - 68% Savings

Awesome trip to Kroger. I paid 20.61 for all of this and saved 45.73. Go to www.southernsavers.com and click on Kroger to see all the coupon match-ups!

Buffalo Chicken Pita

I was looking at websites today and came across a great recipe. I just had to try it. I adapted it to fit my tastes. I began by making my own pita bread. I know it sounds difficult, but it really is easy and a lot cheaper than buying it!

Don't look at my dirty oven, please......


Here is the recipe that I used for the pita bread. It is not my recipe.
I copied it from a blog, but I cannot remember which one.

8 whole pita pockets (or 16 halves)

1 cup warm water (110-115 degrees)
1 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast

1. In a large bowl, combine first 4 ingredients. Add 1 cup of the flour, along with the yeast, and stir to mix. Add remaining flour and knead to make a soft dough.

2. Put your dough into a bowl, lightly oil the top, and cover. Set in a warm place to rise, until almost double (about an hour).

3. Punch dough down and turn onto a lightly floured surface. Using a sharp knife, cut dough into 8 equal pieces. Form each piece into a ball. On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball into a 6- or 7-inch circle.

4. As you roll the rounds, set them aside on a lightly floured countertop or table, and cover loosely with a towel. Let rise for about 25-35 minutes, until slightly puffy. (The rounds will still be thin though!

5. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place 2 rounds, side-by-side, onto a wire rack, such as is used for cooling things. Place rack in the middle of the oven. Bake for 4-5 minutes, until puffy and just slightly browned. (If bread is too browned, it will be dry and not pliable

6. Remove rack from oven and immediately wrap/layer pita breads in a damp towel, to soften. Continue baking the remaining breads, layering them between damp towels as soon as they're baked. Allow breads to completely cool.

7. Cut pita breads in half, or split the top edge, and fill as desired.

I made those after lunch and so when supper time came I was ready to make my buffalo chicken pita pizzas.

Buffalo Chicken Pita Pizza

2 Tbsp Tabasco Original Red sauce
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 Tbsp honey
1/2 pound Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast
4 Pita Rounds
1/2 cup shredded cheese (whatever you like)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Combine the Tabasco Original Red, mustard, and honey in a small bowl. Divide into two.
• Mix chicken and one half of the sauce mixture; let marinate 15 minutes.
• Cook the chicken in skillet over medium high heat, until browned and just cooked through, 3–4 minutes.
• Put chicken and remaining sauce evenly on 4 pitas, top with cheese.
• Bake until heated through and the cheese melts, 10–12 minutes.

I had forgot to take a picture of the finished product, so luckily when I remembered,
Todd had not taken a bite of his yet.

Free fitness ball!!!!

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93% Savings at Kroger

I got all this at Kroger today for $1.58!!!! I saved $20.85!!!