Grocery Shopping with Coupons!!

 So I've been watching the show Extreme Coupon. It's crazy how much they can save but they're hoarders! Who needs a thousand tubes of toothpaste? And their stores double coupons and all these other deals. Unluckily where I live there are no stores that double, but that doesn't mean you can't find deals. Here are some great deals I found. 

All this for $60!

 Hy-Vee Trip

 3 bags frozen vegetables- (On sale 3/$3)= $1.00 each
3 boxes Eggo waffles- (On sale 3/$5) + ($.75 off coupon)= $1.41 each
2 boxes Cheerios- (On sale 2/$5) + ($1 off coupon)= 2.00 each
2 boxes Chex cereal- (On sale 2/$5) + (2 $.50 off coupons)= 2.00 each
4 boxes Kelloggs- (On sale 4/$10) + ($1.50 off coupon)= $2.12 each
1 gallon milk- (Coupon from buying 4 boxes Kelloggs cereal)= FREE!
1/2 gallon chocolate milk- (On sale)= $1.59
4 lbs Strawberries- (On sale, originally 8.98)= $3.99
2 bags coleslaw/salad- (On sale, originally 1.98)= $.77 each
(Cream Cheese and Eggs bought at Price Chopper...)
TOTAL FOR HY-VEE: $32.36
AVERAGE PRICE/ITEM: $1.61
SAVED: $15.08

Wal-Mart Trip

Lays potato chips- ($.55 off coupon)= $2.00
Lays Kettle chips- ($.55 off coupon)= $2.28
2 bottles Suave wash(20% more!)- ($.75 off coupon)=$1.55 each
Twin pack Speed Stick deodorant- ($.50 off coupon)= $1.68 each
2 packs Trident Vitality gum- (b1g1 Free coupon)= $.48 each
2 bags Pretzel Twists= 2.96
Salsa= $1.98
Sour Cream= $1.34
TOTAL FOR Wal-art: $18.93
AVERAGE PRICE/ITEM: $1.57

SAVED: $3.31

Price Chopper Trip

Cottonelle tp 12 pk- (On sale, saved $3.90) + ($.50 off coupon)= $3.49
Puff tissues- (On sale 10/$10) + ($.50 off coupon)= $.50
Eggs- (On sale, saved $.64)= $.99
Best Choice Cream Cheese- (On sale 10/$10, saved $.29)= $1.00 each
Plus $.05 off for bringing my reusable bag!
TOTAL FOR Price Chopper: $10.52
AVERAGE PRICE/ITEM: $1.31
SAVED: $7.00

Total shopping trip:  $61.81

Saved 25.39 (29%)

I know I did go to three stores, but they're all close to each other, and close to home. Clipping coupons and matching them to sales isn't that hard. It just takes time. And I'll get better as I go along. Saving money is great, especially with gas prices going up like crazy!

My Craft Room and Cockrell Mercantile

Life gets busy, and blogging gets lower on my list of things to do...

For instance, we're trying to sell our house, and much of my time has been spent cleaning.

 This is the cleanest my craft room will EVER be!

 It does look very nice and organized doesn't it?

Don't look in the cabinets... they're stuffed with craft supplies!

Where is the fun in a craft room this clean?

I guess the fun is that it'll help sell my house.

And of course I can still craft in my bright and cheery orange room!!

As long as I clean up before a showing!

And this weekend a group of us girls went to Cockrell Mercantile.

It's the cutest place and it's only a couple miles from where I grew up.

I highly recommend that any ladies that live in the area should visit here.

Especially if you like to keep home. (like me!)

CockrellMercantile.com

There are five buildings to visit. (Photo from their website)

 

Photo from their website.

 Check out the awesome, old cash register that they use!

And they offered us free tea and coffee,,, so good!

 The Cockrell Annex has some great outdoor pots and decorations.

 Me and my sister! Thanks Megan for planning the girls outing!

 The Cockrell Cottage... I wouldn't mind living in any of these houses!

This is a cool building,,, to bad it's private.

Just a side note: 

They're having a Spring Open house

Music, food and prizes galore!!

I love making my house a home.

And places like Cockrell help make it fun!

Have a wonderful day ladies.

~Erin~

I've Been Quilting!!

I posted earlier about my Unfinished Projects Box.

So, ALOT of my unfinished projects weren't even in that box! I had seven,,, SEVEN!,,, quilts that I had started but hadn't finished. Most were started in high school! Yay for 5 years since graduation!! (hmmm, haven't heard anything about a reunion... oh well) So here are my quilts!

Quilt #1

 This is how I left it. It's a small tabletop quilt.

 So, I sandwiched batting between the fabric...

..And experimented with stippling.

Don't look too close, it's not perfect!

 Used my ruler and rotary cutter to even up the batting and backing.

And also cut the binding fabric.

 This is the FIRST quilt that I hand stitched the binding to the back. 

I was so proud of myself!!

 Now I'm ready for the Fourth of July!

Quilt #2

This was supposed to be for my room when I was in college,

Obviously that didn't happen.

I sewed the turquoise and pink designs on my sewing machine.

And hand embroidered the flowers with floss.

And I haven't finished this quilt, but hopefully soon!

Quilt #3

A high school t-shirt quilt!

I'd been keeping all my shirts to make a memory quilt.

On the left: shirts roughly cut out w/ interfacing ironed on

On the right: Shirts nicely cut and stacked

They're going to stay nicely stacked for now.

They take up so much less space than the whole t-shirts!

Quilt #4

 Such a sweet quilt, Pinwheels flying in the wind.

This is how I left it, and I've worked on it randomly over the years.

I finished all the pinwheel squares recently, sewed them together,

and bought fabric to finish it,,, hopefully soon!

Quilt #5

This one still hasn't been touched.

I can't decide whether I want to finish it,

or make it bigger to fit on a queen/king bed.

I just don't know!

It'll be a lot of work to make more of the squares from scratch.

Quilt #6

 This quilt was started a year ago. 

And I got frustrated with it, 

so it went in the unfinished projects box!

But didn't it turn out just adorable!

  

This is why I was frustrated. /\ /\ /\ /\ /\

The fabric was from a jelly roll,

and the strips didn't sew together straight.

(I had to do ALOT of trimming to make it square)

The back fabric is fun and cordinating.
I pieced together the binding.
And this is the 2nd quilt I hand finished!
(I'm slowly moving to bigger quilts)

Quilt #7

This is one of my favorites, b/c it's so different!

I bought all these 9 Squares at a garage sale.

 

Unfortunately, almost all of them looked like this.

But, I'm resourceful, and couldn't stand to throw them away.

So I trimmed them to 8 inch squares.

 Here I'm playing around with the placement of the squares.

I got all the squares sewn together.
I had to purchase border and binding fabric.

And they matched perfectly with the style of the quilt!
I'm half tempted to save this quilt for when we have a baby!

Food Friday!! Chocolate Cake, Brownies, Hummus... Yumminess!

 The Not-So-Diet Chocolate Cake

This cake is awesome! It disappeared in one day around my family. It's super moist and super chocolatey.

Find the recipe on AllRecipes.com here. I used plain yogurt instead of sour cream and powdered sugar instead of white chocolate. It's a hit!

 Healthy Fudge Brownies

Healthy? Really? Oh yeah! 86 calories, no sugar added and they've even got some fruit in them. I've made these brownies 4 times this month! My husband loves them, and so does his best friend(he's diabetic so these are great for him!)

I found this great blog that tells all about it, you can find the recipe here.

 

 Pita Chips and Hummus

(From Jillian Michael's book: The Master Your Metabolism Cookbook)

 

Pita Chips

4 (6 in) whole-wheat pita breads

3 Tb extra virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove, crushed (or garlic salt)

1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400. Spray 2 rimmed sheets with olive oil.

Use kitchen scissors to cut outsides of bread. Then cut into bite size wedges or squares. Arrange pita on prepared sheets with inside of pita bread facing up.

In a small dish, combine olive oil and garlic. Lightly brush each pita chip with mixture, brush only the side that faces up. Sprinkle the pitas with salt.

Bake until chips are lightly browned. Turn pan once. 8-10 minutes. Cool slightly. Store 3-4 days.

1 serving: 54 calories, 2.9 g. fat, 1.1 g. protein, 6.2 g carbs, 89.9 mg sodium

Hummus

1 (15 oz) can no-sodium chickpeas

1/4 c. lemon juice

3 Tb tahini or 1 1/2 Tb peanut butter

2 garlic cloves, chopped or 1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cum

2 tsp EVOO, for garnish

sumac or paprika for garnish

Drain chickpeas, reserve 1/4 c. liquid. In food processor place lemon juice, tahini, garlic, salt and cumin. Process. Add chickpeas(& liquid) and process until smooth, scraping down sides. Taste and add more lemon juice or spices if desired. Store in fridge up to 1 week.

 

Peanut Butter Popcorn

My friend from work recommended this, and I was skeptical at first. She said it's good for Weight Watchers (I don't actually do it though) My husband loves this. He's asked for it the past couple of nights. He started eating it with a spoon so his fingers wouldn't get all peanut-buttery. It's actually kinda fun!

I use my presto popcorn popper for the microwave. It's awesome! No oil needed to pop!

Pop 3-4 Tbs. of kernels

Warm 1-2 Tbs. peanut butter in the microwave. (about 30-45 seconds)

Drizzle over popcorn. Sprinkle on 1 tsp brown sugar. Stir or shake to coat.

Enjoy! 

 One more thing! I need advice!
I started this quilt in highschool. Should I make it bigger (5x5 squares) I have enough fabric to do it.
Or should I just make it a lap quilt- make a border and just be done with it?
I think it'd make a beautiful quilt for a bed, but I've kinda lost motivation, and finishin a quilt on a different machine isn't always the easiest thing to do to get the seams just right.

My Current Undertaking: The Unfinished Projects Box

     My weekend goal is to complete as many unfinished projects as I can. And this basket is where a lot of them end up for months... or years... Has anyone else started something and not yet finished it? I encourage you to join me in a quest to finish what we started. (Even if that means throwing it in the trash if it's a lost cause!) I currently have three quilts started. And I started two of them when I was in high school...probably 6+ years ago! I post this now b/c I want to show what I've accomplished (you know, the whole accountability thing). So, I'll be in my craft room enjoying the hobbies that I love!!

Smoothies, Pizza and Tunanus!!

 

I make this smoothie every morning that I can for my husband. He loves them! He drinks the big glass as breakfast, and I drink the small glass as a snack because I eat breakfast hours before him.

Strawberry Banana Smoothies

Ingredients:

4 frozen strawberries

10 frozen raspberries, or 1 frozen strawberry

1 banana

3/4 c milk

1/2 scoop protein powder (I use Whey Chocolate)

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until a "tornado" spins in the center of the smoothie.

Pour smoothie into glass.

Add a little bit of cold water to the blender and blend remaining "stuck" smoothie.

Pour into small glass.

Enjoy!

 

These are so easy, and so easy to personalize!

Bagel Thins Pizza

Bagel thins

Olive Oil

Pizza Sauce (We love Boboli)

Shredded cheese

Toppings: mushrooms, bacon bits, pepperoni, turkey pepperoni, pineapple...

Preheat oven to 375. Brush bagel thins with a little bit of olive oil. Place on cookie sheet and toast in oven about 5 min. (Just until slightly crisp) Remove from oven. If kids are topping their own, remove from hot cookie sheet. Top with pizza sauce, cheese and desired toppings. Heat in oven about 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

 My husband created this one to cut back on carbs. He calls it a tuna canoe, or Tunanu for short.

Tunanus

Tuna salad and romaine lettuce

My tuna salad: 2 cans tuna, 2 hard boiled eggs, mayo w/ olive oil, pepper, onion flakes, sesame seeds, sweet relish... I pretty much mix whatever sounds good, and in amounts that make it the consistency that I want. Place in middle of lettuce and enjoy!

It's a blizzard out there!!

It's snowing! A lot! Who knows if we'll get the 12 inches they're forcasting, but we're getting enough that my work closed early. Only had to work 3 hours today at the library. It amazes me that parents bring their kids to story time on snowy days like this. Would you bring your precious little ones out in bad weather?? So here I am at home spending the day with my husband, and doggies, and I'm also doing some crafts!! I'll post pics of all of them soon.

I know, I'm still alive! I haven't posted in over a month. Time flies and I've been busy. We've cleaned our house from top to bottom to show it, but either the people don't show, or postpone because of this lovely snow. Snow is so pretty (as long as I'm in my warm house). It's all white and blowing everywhere. I know my father-in-law was going sledding with my nieces and nephews. And my dogs love running around in the snow... they come in with white noses and covered in snow.

Life is good right now and I can't complain. I am blessed with a wonderful husband, a nice warm home and many friends and family that mean so much to me. Thank you Lord for loving me.