Mar. 12, 2009 - Turkey, Ya'll

Back in November I got a turkey at Kroger for 5 bucks!  It was a Thanksgiving deal.  It changed the way we eat around here.  Because we got such a good deal on it, I was determined to get everything out of it that I could, and I feel like we did.  Even though I can't get a turkey for 5 bucks now, I can usually find a good deal on one, and really, with things being much, much tighter around here lately, I just have to.  The last one I bought was .79/lb.  Kroger always has the best deals.  It was an 18 lb. turkey.  Here's what we did to get the most of our money out of it....

First, we cooked that baby using this recipe:
-Preheat overn to 475
-Melt a stick of butter
-Separate skin from breast and rub the butter on the meat, then add rosemary and thyme between the breast and skin
-Lightly salt and pepper the skin on the outside
-Place turkey in roasting pan with cover
-Bake for 20 minutes at 475, then reduce heat to 250
-Cook turkey at 250 for 20 minutes per pound.

After the turkey is cooked, we have the traditional turkey dinner.  Stuffing, rice, green beans...you know.  I use ALL the drippings from the turkey to make gravy.  It's a lot of gravy, but we use all the gravy in the Cheddary Chicken n' Broccoli recipe below.  I used to buy packets of gravy mix for this recipe, but no more!

Another thing I do is take the carcass of the turkey and use it to make Turkey Stock.  Oh my goodness. I love the smell of the broth simmering on the stove!  I use the broth in some of the recipes below.  It's so much cheaper than having to buy broth at the store, and much healthier.  Unless you're buying organic broth, other "regular" broths have MSG in them.

Then it takes us the rest of the week to eat the rest in different recipes, and it's so much cheaper than buying chicken breasts, which is what most recipes call for.  I have to double everything, and still always have plenty of turkey for these meals:
Farmhouse Chicken

Chicken Pot Pie

Barbecued Chicken Sandwiches

Soft Chicken Tacos - super easy!  Just mix together 1 lb. cut-up chicken (or turkey ;-), 1 15 oz. can of black beans, rinsed and drained, 1 c. salsa, 1 T. taco seasoning, then serve on a tortilla. 

Cheddary Chicken n' Broccoli
1 package Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Shells, baked (we will use 6) - I use my own biscuit recipe for this.  It's HERE.
2 jars chicken gravy - substitue homemade gravy
2 cups cooked chicken, thawed
2 cups frozen broccoli cuts, thawed
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
In a saucepan, combine gravy, lemon juice, broccoli, and chicken. Heat, stirring frequently. Serve in pastry shells with cheese sprinkled on top.

I try to keep things different every week so we won't burn out on the same recipes.  Others I have put in the rotation are Chicken Lasagna, Chicken Alphabet Soup, Southwest Chicken and Chili Stew.  I try to stick to recipes that are heavy in vegetables.  The one exception in the list I've given is the Chicken Lasagna.  It's heavy in creeeeeaaaaammmmm cheeeeeese.  My weakness.

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Feb. 24, 2009 - Banana Pudding

Sometimes when you're on a roll in the kitchen, taking time to put on an apron just seems like too much.  At least that's what I keep trying to tell my daughter, Lydia.  Lydia is my dress-up girl, so the apron-thing is an absolute must when working in the kitchen for her.  I obviously would much rather end up with grease splatters and flour all over my front.  :-)But we have been having fun in the kitchen. 

Kind of on that note, Darin and everyone else in his company received a  6% paycut at the beginning of the year.  It hurt!  6% doesn't sound like a lot until it's broken down into $$ signs.  For us, it is basically what our food budget was.  So we have had to really roll up our sleeves and find a cheaper way to cook around here.  I've never been a big processed foods fan, and now I'm even less of a fan.  I've vowed to completely cut out of our grocery trips anything that comes in a box.  We have been making EVERYTHING from scratch.  Over the weekend, we made banana pudding completely from scratch - even the Nilla Wafers.  Of course I don't have time to stand in the kitchen cooking everything from scratch, so our pudding was a family affair.  Darin and Jack made the vanilla wafers while Lydia and I were grocery shopping.  I made some vanilla pudding that same day after dinner.  The next morning, Jack lined the dish with the vanilla wafers, Lydia mixed in a few bananas into the pudding then dumped it into the dish, Jack finished off with his very special "battle formation" with the cookies on top, and then all of us (Darin, me, Ben, Lydia, Jack, Henry & Sophia) gathered round to finish off the leftover cookies.  YUM!

It was so easy, and a lot of fun to do as a family.  Here's our recipes:

Vanilla Wafers

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 c. milk

Directions:
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture and mix well. 
Drop by teaspoonfuls 2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 12-15 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool. Yield: about 3-1/2 dozen.
NOTE: Let these cookies sit overnght. If you try them when they first come out of the oven, or anytime on the first day, they won't taste like "real" nilla wafers.  But the next day....oh yeah, baby.

Vanilla Pudding
2 eggs
3/4 c. sugar
5 T. flour
1 T. butter
pinch of salt
1 T. vanilla

Directions:
In a bowl, mix eggs, sugar and flour.  On the stove, heat milk and then pour in the sugar mixture.  Stir until thick, then take off stove and add butter, salt and vanilla. (I tripled this recipe for our pudding)

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Sep. 6, 2008 - I Spent 1.24 at CVS

Here are the things I got at CVS on mine and Darin's date night.  We really know how to party.  ;-)

3 Revlon Nail Polishes - 3.99 each
2 XTreme deodorant - 2.99 each
Tom's of Maine Toothpaste - 5.29
subtotal: 23.24

I used:
3 coupons for the nail polish.  $2 off ($6 total)
2 coupons for the deodorant.  $1 off ($2 total)
$4/$20 CVS coupon
$10 ECBs

My final total was 1.24.  How kewl is that?  And I earned 14.50 in ECBs!

Lately, I've had a lot of people tell me they don't need to do the CVS thing because their family is not as big as mine.  A family of 7 definitely has its challenges, but to me, getting stuff for free and nearly free seems like an across-the-board thing!  The whole reason for the CVS journey is not just for the adrenalin rush of getting stuff at super cheap-o prices.  Although really, that would probably be enough to satisfy most.  ;-) 

Seriously, the main goal is to outfit your home as cheaply as you can so you're not spending all your dough needlessly.  When we need body wash here in our house, we simply go to the cabinet in my bathroom and grab a bottle.  I don't need to stress over adding that expense to our budget that week.  I've already got it, and I got it for free, or nearly free.  There's nothing in that that keeps it exclusive to large families. 

Give it a try!  Go to Crystal's Money Saving Mom blog and read CVS 101 and get started ASAP!  :-)

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Jun. 17, 2008 - And I Get to go Outside!!!

I go through phases when I major on a certain topic.  There for awhile I was all Charlotte Mason, all the time.  I read about CM, implemented CM stuff into our school, talked non-stop about it to anyone who would listen and joined a bunch of yahoo groups so I could soak up more CM knowledge.  Still love CM, but next I moved my undivided attention to....ummmmm.....something VERY interesting, I'm sure.  I just can't remember right now.  Hmmmmmmmm.

ANYWAY, now I've moved on to frugal living.  I'm sure you've noticed the couple of shopping CVS posts I've made.  I don't always get a chance to post about my oh-so-fun trips to CVS each week, but do know that man, oh man, am I making them!  It is just too much fun and so exciting to be lowering our outgoing cash through the Extra Care Bucks program.  It makes me sick that I waited so long to get started!  It took me so long because I thought it would be too much work and not really worth it.  You know, I would never let my kids get away with that kind of slackerish behaviour.  Sigh.  ;-)  If you're interested in learning more about shopping CVS and lowering your receipts on things like soap, toothbrushes, shampoo, batteries, & etc. Go here to read MoneySavingMom's CVS 101.

Another thing I've added to our routine is a clothes line.  My mom always used one when we were growing up.  She's a down-home, Tennessee woman who likes to do things the "REAL" way.  She did not waste my Dad's hard earned money on Lucky Charms and Ding Dongs.  We were the goofy kids, who, when it was time for us to bring a snack to the "secret" club meetings, we would show up with apples and all the other kids would groan.  LoL!  But I'm glad my Mom stuck to her guns on these issues because her example has saved our family a whole bunch of money that would normally be spent on junk. 

And so now I'm returning to my roots and have invested in a clothesline and I LOVE it!  It is so much fun to have a household chore that I can do OUTSIDE.  Am I the only one who could go the entire day and not step outside once because of all there is to do INSIDE?  It's crazy!  I love the time I have outside hanging out the clothes.  Third Son goes out with me and hands me up the clothes pins as I need them and it's just so nice.  The sad thing is that today we had a big storm with lots of wind and our neighbor's tree crashed over the fence and onto my beloved line.  It killed me to think of the cost that is involved in running the dyer today.  I guess that means I am a total clothes line convert, and will have to replace this poor broken thang.

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Jun. 8, 2008 - I Spent 3.48 at CVS Today

Wanna know what I got for 3.48?  I know.  You're dying to know.  HA! 

4 Dove deodorants for 10.00 (earn 3 ECB)
Listerine Smart Rinse - 3.49 (earn 3.49 ECB)
CVS Band-Aids - 1.99 (earn 1.99 ECB)
I used:
4 - .75 off Dove coupons
1.00 off Smart Rinse coupon
$3/$15 CVS coupon
6.99 ECB
For a grand total of 1.49!  (For 15.48 worth of stuff!)

Next transaction:
Excedrin - 9.99 (earn 3 ECB)
Oral B 2 pk. toothbrushes - 6.99 (earn 6.99 ECB)
I used:
2.00 off Excedrin coupon
3.00 off Excedrin coupon that printed out with my CVS receipt a couple of weeks ago.  Woohoo!
$3/$15 CVS coupon
6.99 ECB
For a grand total of 1.99!  (For 16.98 worth of stuff!)

In all, I earned 18.47 in ECBs for my next purchase!

If you're interested in learning about the CVS Extra Care Bucks program, go HERE for CVS 101 by Money Saving Mom.  It will be time well spent.

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May. 18, 2008 - Shopping CVS

OH
MY
GOODNESS.

I feel like a cat who brings all the animals she kills to the doorstep to show off when I talk about shopping CVS.  It was all I could do to stay within the speed limit on my way home from CVS today because I was so excited!  I brought home and laid out all my stuff on the kitchen cabinet and had everyone take a guess about how much I spent on my second CVS transaction.  Here's why:

Things started off okay.  CVS has a deal where you buy $20 of Nexxus products, you get $10 ECBs back.  I use these products, especially the gel, for my unruly hair.  Their gel is the only thing that I've found that keeps my hair from totally frizzing out.  Anyway....I appreciate this deal because these products are not on the cheap side.  So here's what I got:

Nexxus Gel: 2 @ 9.99 each 
Nexxus Shampoo: 4.19
subtotal of 24.17
I used a $3/$15 CVS coupon
9.68 in ECBs
My final total was 12.44  Not a huge CVS shopping moment.  The big moment came when my receipt printed out!  Rather than receiving $10 ECBs, I received TWENTY ECBs!!!!!  The CVS guy and I were flabbergasted!  He recovered more quickly than I did and while he was ringing up my second transaction that I had planned on using my 10 ECBs on, he said, "Is there something else you need?"  Oh yeah!  So I ran back and got some wipes.  Then he said I needed something else that cost around $2.  I grabbed some salsa.  Here's the details:

Right Guard Extreme: 2 @ 3.00 each earn 2 ECBs)
Q-tips: 2.99
2 Oral-B toothbrushes: 2 @ 1.99 each (earn 2 ECBs)
Colgate toothbrush: 3.99 (earn 3.99 ECBs)
Playskool Wipes: 5.79
Salsa: 2.99
subtotal: 25.74
I used .30 coupon for the Q-Tips
1.50 in coupons for the Oral-B toothbrushes
$3/$15 CVS coupon
and then of course my $20 in ECBs!!! 
FOR A GRAND TOTAL OF

94 CENTS!!!!  And I earned $7.99 in ECBs.  :-)  That was such fun.  If I had been more on my toes, I would have grabbed more stuff that would have earned me more ECBs, but I'll survive.  It's just way too kewl to have paid only .94 for all that stuff. 

And ya know....a lot of people would say, "so lucky!  What a fluke!"  I don't believe that for a minute.  I totally believe that God had his hand on my CVS transactions today.  First of all, because I always pray before I go in that I will be successful.  This is a serious business for me.  I am really trying hard to lower our family's expenses.  So I always pray. 

Secondly, Proverbs 16:33 says, "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD."  He meant for me to have that extra 10 ECBs.  He is so good to us all.

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May. 11, 2008 - CVS Shopping

One of the things I was concerned about with shopping CVS was that, as much as possible, we buy organic/natural products.  Stuff like toothpaste, soap and stuff.  I worried that there would not be enough products that we use that would earn us enough Extra Care Bucks for it to be a benefit.  But that fear has been laid to rest because there are plenty of products that we use that have earned Extra Care Bucks. 

An added bonus is that I have been able to buy products that we normally use for almost free even though they don't earn Extra Care Bucks.  We are just about out of toothpaste.  We use Tom's of Maine toothpaste.  It's a natural toothpaste - better ingredients than Colgate.  We also needed diapers.  I normally would buy the Target brand diapers because they are cheap, but today I was able to buy Huggies for nearly nothing.  Here's the breakdown of what I did today:

Huggies Jumbo Pack - on sale for 8.99
Tums QuickPaK - 4.69
CVS Kid's Plaque Detecting Mouthwash (my kids need all the encouragement they can get in doing a good job on their teeth!  ;-) - 3.99
Subtotal: $17.67

I used:
a $3/$15 CVS coupon
a $1.00 Huggies coupon
$9.69 in Extra Care Bucks
which brought my final total down to $4.64.  I earned $5.69 in Extra Care Bucks for my next purchase.  Woohoo!
Here's the next thing I did:

Huggies Jumbo Pack - 8.99
Tums QuickPak - 4.69
Tom's of Maine toothpaste - 5.29
Subtotal: $18.97

I used:
$3/$15 CVS coupon
$1.00 Huggies Coupon
$10.00 Extra Care Bucks
which brought my final total down to 5.63.  I earned $4.69 towards my next purchase!

In all, I paid $10.27 for $36.64 worth of stuff!  Our budget can handle that!  ;-)

Forgot!  There is also a program called The Caregivers Marketplace. (www.caregiversmarketplace.com)  You can sign-up to receive money back on things like DIAPERS, flushable wipes....I will send in my receipts to the Marketplace to receive $1 for each package of Huggies that I bought, so that will bring my final out of pocket expense for today down to $8.27.

To read how to get started with your own CVS shopping, go here: http://www.moneysavingmom.com/2007/09/cvs-101.html

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May. 8, 2008 - Shopping CVS

I've visited so many blogs and read about the glories of CVS shopping.  Sounded great, but I figured it was probably more work than it was worth.  But lately I've really been working hard to tighten down even more with our budget, so I rolled my eyes, shrugged my shoulders and decided to give this CVS thing a shot. 

I am sold.  It is so totally kewl.  I am getting stuff that we use for FREE or really close to free.  Here's what I bought today:

Tums QuickPack: $4.69
Colgate 360 Toothbrush: $3.99
Aquaphor: $8.99
I used a $3/$15 CVS coupon a $1 coupon for the toothbrush and $11 in Extra Care Bucks that I earned from CVS from previous purchases, bringing my final total to $3.41!  It could have been even lower, but I goofed in printing a coupon from the web for the Tums.  Big bummer!  Not only did I get these three things for 3.41, but I earned Extra Care Bucks in return.  The Tums gave me 4.69 back, and the toothbrush, 3.99 for a total of $8.68 towards my next purchase.  So technically, CVS paid me to take home these three items.

I usually do my CVS shopping on Sundays, and did this week, but my son needed the Aquaphor for some excema he has on his hand.  He was totally out, so I needed to get it today, but after shopping CVS for the last month or so, I've realized that I never have to pay full-price for this type of stuff again.  So I visited MoneySavingMom (www.moneysavingmom.com) and IHeartCVS (www.iheartcvs.com) to see if I could find a way to earn some Extra Care Bucks so I could spend some ECBs and get the lotion free, or almost free.  Cha-ching!  ;-)  It worked!

If you are curious about how all this Extra Care Buck-ing works, MoneySavingMom has a great tutorial on getting started.  Go read and do it!  Don't wait like I did!  :-)  Go here: http://www.moneysavingmom.com/2007/09/cvs-101.html

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