• you really have to be on top of the menu planning in order for this to work
• leftovers occur lots more than I thought they would
• if you REALLY plan you don't have to go to the store near as much as if you don't plan
• if you don't go to the store as much you really can save money
• cooking from scratch is not as hard as you might think it is, but it is time consuming, therefore you must PLAN..
• I gotta figure out how to get my kids to lay off the milk some..they really go through lots of milk

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These are ones I would use regularly, not tried yet, but planning on trying real soon...

Homemade Rice Seasoning Mix

Ingredients

¾ cup chicken bouillon granules
½ cup dried parsley
1 tbsp. basil
1 tbsp dill weed
2 tbsp, dried onion flakes
1 tsp seasoning salt
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
1 cup almonds, coarsely chopped (optional)

Mix together and store in an airtight container. When preparing rice, combine 1 cup rice, 2 cups water, and three tablespoons of the seasoning. Bring your water to a boil and add rice & seasoning. Reduce to simmer and cook for eighteen minutes.

Homemade Italian Dressing Seasoning Mix

Ingredients

1 ½ tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
2 tbsp ground
1 tbsp dried parsley
1 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tbsp salt (adjust to your own personal preference)
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp ground basil
¼ tsp ground thyme
½ tsp dried celery flakes

Mix all ingredients together and store in an airtight container.  To prepare the dressing: Mix two tablespoons of the mix with ¼ cup vinegar, 2 tablespoons of water, and ½ to 2/3 cup olive oil or canola oil.

Homemade Ranch Dressing Mix

Ingredients

½ cup dry buttermilk
1 tbsp dried parsley, crushed
1 tsp dried dill weed
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp dried onion flakes
1 tsp salt
½ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp ground pepper

Combine all ingredients in your food processor and grind until it becomes a fine powder. Store in an airtight container. To prepare the dressing: Combine one tablespoon mix with one cup of mayonnaise and one cup milk.

Homemade Croutons.....(this I have done..YUM-O)

Ingredients

6 slices of bread (any kind, but don't tell Martha!)
¼ cup olive oil
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano, liberal sprinkling of garlic salt (to taste)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cube bread into desired size and toss into a bowl. Sprinkle all of the seasonings on top of your bread cubes. Drizzle olive oil over the cubes and then toss gently with your fingers. When all pieces have been coated, put cubes into a single layer on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for twenty minutes. Allow to cool. Place in an airtight container and these can be stored for up to weeks in this container.

Make-Your-Own Stove Top Stuffing

Ingredients

6 cups cubed bread
1 tbsp parsley flakes
3 tbsp chicken-bouillon powder
¼ cup dried minced onion
½ cup dried minced celery (or fresh celery may be sautéed and added just before cooking)
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp pepper
½ tsp sage
1/3 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the cubes on a cookie sheet and bake for eight to ten minutes, turning to brown evenly. Cool. In a plastic bag or bowl, toss the cubes with the rest of the ingredients until well coated. Store in a tightly closed container in the pantry for up to four months, or in the freezer for up to a year. To use: Combine two cups stuffing mix with ½ cup water and 2 tablespoons melted butter. Stir to combine thoroughly. Warm on the stove top or in a microwave. Stir again just before serving.

Homemade Shake & Bake

Ingredients

4 cups flour
4 cups ground inexpensive crackers
4 tbsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp garli powder
2 tsp onion powder
3 tbsp paprika
¼ cup vegetable oil

Mix well and store indefinitely in the refrigerator in a covered container.

Homemade Onion Soup Mix

Ingredients

¾ cup instant minced onion
4 tsp onion powder
1/3 cup beef-flavored bouillon powder
¼ tsp celery seed, crushed
¼ tsp sugar

Mix all the ingredients and store in an airtight container. To use, add two tablespoons mix to one cup boiling water. Cover and simmer for fifteen minutes.

Make-Your-Own Canned Tomato Soup

Ingredients

6 ounce can tomato paste
24 ounces milk
1 tsp salt
1 tsp celery seed

Put tomato paste in a small saucepan. Add the milk, salt, & celery seed. Cook on medium-high heat, stirring occasionally.

Homemade Chocolate Syrup....this I have done..YUM-O

Ingredients

½ cup cocoa
1 cup water
2 cups sugar
1/8 tsp salt
¼ tsp vanilla

Mix the cocoa & the water in a saucepan. Heat and stir to dissolve the cocoa. Add the sugar and stir to dissolve. Boil three minutes. Add the salt & the vanilla. Pour into a sterilized pint jar, and store covered in the refrigerator.

Homemade Pancake Syrup

Ingredients

3 cups granulated sugar
1 ½ cups water
3 tbsp molasses
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp butter flavoring
1 tsp maple extract

Bring all of the ingredients to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Turn off burner, but leave pot on burner until the bubbling stops.

Homemade Sweetened Condensed Milk

Ingredients

1 cup instant nonfat dry milk solids
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup boiling water
3 tbsp melted margarine

Combine all ingredients and process with an electric mixer until smooth. This can be stored in the refrigerator until it is ready to be used.

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• a small lighted outside tree
• some snowfake pathway stakes
• and the one I was going after...the big standing buck lighted deer
•  and d.found a few tools(drill bits etc on half price)

I have tried for that buck on half price for the last 3 years...this time I got him..well actually Dustin got him...he ran up in front of me & grabbed the only one off the shelf...lol...tied him up like a roped calf & BAM in the basket he went! So now I have a family set of deer for my yard...even tho the mama doe broke but hubb has promised to fix her(a weld came loose)

I also got some bubble bath, lotion, things like that  to last all year and a few other things like manacure kits(we are ALWAYS looking for a pair of tweezers or nail clippers around this house)..things that we would buy at a much higher price during the year so I see it as saving me later on.

As we were shopping I noticed a few things..

1. they didn't have near the amount of products they had in years past
2. there were much fewer people shopping
3. there were NO popcorn cans

you know those decorative popcorn cans with carmel, cheese & buttered popcorn in them for $5..well we ALWAYS buy a couple of those after christmas every year & we were there on Dec. 24 they had lots of them....either everyone bought them all or wally hid them in the back from us....my kids were dissapointed...they wanted the popcorn..and they wanted the cans to hold stuff in when the popcorn was all gone...oh well no popcorn.

Hubby was dissapointed because they didn't  have the usual tools & knives & such ...I was dissappointed because they didn't have puzzles...I was looking forward to a couple of new half price puzzles...oh well....all told everything I bought was half price..and everything(except the 3 yard decorations & the tools) was stuff we would have bought thoughout the year .......and I shopped VERY frugally so I did get LOTS of stuff.

no wrapping paper, no boxes, no ornaments, bags..none of that I have plenty to do us...no need in storing anymore of it and I save boxes\bags every year..so I think I did good....I spent $84...on things that would have cost $162...not bad

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