What's Cookin'

Mon~Teriyaki pork, potatoes, cauliflower

Tues~Brown rice casserole, carrots, applesauce

Wed~Chili, french bread

Thurs~Chicken broccoli casserole, green beans, fruit salad

Fri~Chili topped baked potatoes, salad

Sat~Boys get mac n cheese with the babysitters while we go to my cousin's wedding.

Sun~Chicken tet, corn

Garage Sale Find

I went garage saleing (is that a word? I never know how to spell it.) yesterday with my mom, sister, Andrew, and Aaron and I think I earned the award for coolest mom ever when I found this for Andrew and Noah.

Its missing a few pieces like the top of the back tower but the boys love it. And the best part? I only paid $15 bucks. Its selling for $134.99 on Amazon!

I have one other garage sale find I'm going to share but not for a few weeks. It needs a little transforming. :-)

What's Cookin'

Tues~frozen pizza, salad
Wed~Pea soup, rolls (I WILL make it this week!)
Thurs~nachos, salad
Fri~Spaghetti, garlic biscuits, carrots
Sat~Quiche, fruit
Sun~Chicken noodle soup, grilled cheese
Mon~Teriyaki pork, red potatoes, cauliflower, green beans

Great week at Meijer

Had some fun at Meijer this week. Here's a few deals:

*Lysol cleaning wipes~ 3/$5, I had 2 $1.50 off one coupons so I got two for 17 cents each. I've never bought these before, but they were the right price and I thought they would be nice in the bathrooms for quick cleans.

*Propel~price drop 59 cents, I had $1/2 making them 9 cents each.

*Greenworks all purpose cleaner, $2.17 each ? (can't find my receipt), Buy 2, get $2 off instantly plus I had an mperks coupon for 50 cents off 2, making them less than a dollar each.

*Greenworks dishwashing soap, $2.17 each ?, same deal as above, plus I had 2 $1 off coupons making them 17 cents each.

*Triscuits, $1.67 each, I had 2 $1/1 coupons so they were 67 cents each.

*Similac 32 oz ready to feed, I had a $5/1 Similac product and these are on sale for $5 each so it was free. I will probably use it with Aaron when I need a babysitter, but this would be great to donate to the PRC.

Meijer was all out of Finish tabs so I have to go back and try get some later this week.

Finish Coupon

'Like' Finish Cleaning on Facebook and print a coupon for $1.75 off any Finish Quantum. I was able to print the coupon twice by closing my browser and reopening Facebook. This coupon makes the 20 ct. Finish tabs $1.25 at Meijer this week.

What's Cookin'

Mon~Bangers and mash, green beans, applesauce (didn't get to this last week)

Tues~Out

Wed~Pea soup, bread (didn't get to this last week)

Thurs~Chicken Tet. (from the freezer), broccoli

Fri~Sloppy joes, oven fries, carrots

Sat~Pizza (from the freezer), cold veggies

Sun~Spaghetti, corn, bread

Spaghetti Monster

Daddy was in charge of feeding Joel his spaghetti for Sunday lunch. :-)

I grew up and now I like chicken salad

Have you ever been to a baby or bridal shower and had a gluey chicken mixture on a soggy croissant that's being passed as chicken salad? *shudder* I used to detest chicken salad. For one thing, it always seemed to be made with all dark meat that tasted too... chickeny. Oh and don't forget the fear of crunching down on a bone. So I always bypassed the chicken salad. That is, until a few weeks ago when my cousin Caylee made some delicious chicken salad for her soon to be sister's bridal shower. It was delicious! Caylee used this recipe as the basis of her salad. I used some from that recipe and some from this recipe to make MY chicken salad recipe. So here goes!

Chicken Salad

(I'd say this makes enough for about 4 people, but I wasn't too exact on measurements.)

1 1/2 cups chopped white meat chicken (post about how I cook chicken coming soon)

about 1 cup red grapes, halved (dried cranberries are awesome too)

1 finely chopped celery stalk

4-5 chopped green onions

a couple tablespoons of chopped red pepper

1/2 c of chopped pecans

1 T lemon juice

1T brown sugar

a dollop of mayo (1/4 cup?)

a dollop of plain yogurt (1/4 cup?)

some dry dill

salt

ground pepper

This is probably obvious, but you need to mix all of the above together. :-) PW says to let the mixture sit in the refrigerator for a few hours to let the flavors marinate. I would do that, but I'm a bit too impatient, so I ate it as soon as I finished and it was still good.

So, don't be afraid of chicken salad anymore. In the words of Rachel Ray, "Yummo!"

What's Cookin'

Mon~Scalloped potatoes and ham, cauliflower, chocolate cupcakes for Noah's birthday

Tues~Green chile enchilads, green rice, salad (from the freezer)

Wed~Spaghetti dinner at church

Thurs~Pea soup, french bread

Fri~Chicken packets, carrots, jello (from the freezer)

Sat~Boys get grilled cheese, mommy and daddy are going out with friends

Sun~Chicken noodle soup, bread

The Secession of 1834

I just finished reading The Secession of 1834 by Arie Baars. This little book was given to each member of our congregation and explains the roots of our church. I found the following quote both enlightening and convicting:

...the Act of Secession stress: "And [we] declare in addition, the desire to exercise fellowship with all truly reformed members and to unite with every assembly based on God's infallible Word in whatever place God has gathered such." It is regrettable that this principle, which is clearly based upon the Word of God, has been so little taken to heart. The number of divisions has increased greatly in our Reformed circles. Nevertheless, those that have "the same precious faith" are exhorted by God to seek one another. Or does He have to come to drive them together with His chastening rod?

Here we live in "little Jerusalem," where there are many believers gathered under many different church roofs. Yet we have little contact with each other and are even guilty of critically condemning each others churches based on practices that have no impact on our salvation. The "true church" is not a denomination. Heaven will not be composed of believers from one denomination, but rather from many unlikely churches. I may not agree with a fellow believer on whether women should wear hats to church, or whether Christian families should own televisions. But as long as we agree that we are saved only by the grace of God, that we can do nothing towards our salvation in and of ourselves, and that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation, then we are brothers and sisters in Christ.

Better Way Imports

I recently attended a home party for Better Way Imports and was blown away by the information I heard. BWI is a company that sells products made by women previously entrapped in the sex industry. From their website:

The company vision is to provide a better way of helping people. By supporting meaningful jobs, Better Way Imports seeks to encourage not only a permanent way out of poverty and oppression with dignity, but also provide an opportunity for hope, for a life which people in impoverished situations could never have imagined they would be able to have.

Their mission:

Better Way Imports seeks to improve the livelihood of many individuals through marketing in North American the unique gift and accessory items, and durable goods produced by companies with similar Vision in developing countries.

I plan to have Susie Finkbeiner come to my home and share more information, how we can help, and explain how there is hope for these women. If you are interested, please join us on April 26, 7 PM at my house.

Susie's words:

Today, right now, there are approximately 27 Million slaves in the world. 70% of them are trapped in sexual slavery! Join us to be a voice for those forced into silence!

Learn the stories of women around the world who have been trafficked. Also, hear how they are being rescued and given the chance to live in freedom!

**please understand, the presentation is of a graphic subject matter. It is inappropriate for children. Thank you for understanding**

Check out our website at www.betterwayimports.com
or contact Susie via email susiefink@gmail.com
Or find me on Facebook...

Susie Finkbeiner ~ Better Way Imports

Pretzel? Yes please!

Crabby baby? My friend Suzanne tells me to give them a pretzel rod. Guess what? It works! He was pretty happy with it. Too bad it only took me 4 babies to figure this trick out.

Freezer Cooking Completed (almost!)

So I'm sure you've all been waiting with bated breath to see my fabulous freezing cooking post so I won't disappoint you any longer. :-)

Here's what I accomplished:

Sloppy Joes x 2

Chicken Tetrazzini x 3

Green Chile Enchiladas x 2

Green Rice Casserole x 2

Spaghetti Sauce x 2

Wild Rice Chicken x 2

Chili Verde x 2

Chicken Packets

Oriental Chicken

Chili + Chili for hotdogs

Pea soup x 2 (still to be made)

Linguine a la Anne x 2 (still to be made)

Plus:

3 lbs browned hamburger

1 lb browned sausage

2 meals of diced ham

So about 20 meals + 2 sides of green rice + enough meat for at least 6 more meals.

I love looking in my freezer and seeing so many meals ready to be thawed for dinner. And I found that I really didn't have to buy too many groceries this week, just a few thing that were on sale plus some extras for Noah's upcoming birthday party.

How did I do it:
First, I found 15-20 recipes to use. As I started the process, I threw a few out that I didn't think our family would enjoy. Next, I made detailed lists of the ingredients I needed and separated them into two categories: ingredients I had and ingredients I needed. Then I took a couple of weeks to gather ingredients so I didn't have to buy every thing at once and could find the best deals available for meat, etc. I planned to do my cooking in 2 days but ended up spreading it out over a week due to sick kids, teething baby and other duties. I found that this worked out better for me and I think I will take this approach next time too.

What I learned:
With detailed planning, it really wasn't as much work as I thought. And is it really necessary to do it all in one day? I didn't think so. I spread it out over about a week and I still have a couple to do. Also, the crockpot is your best friend! I cooked all my chicken in it, the spaghetti, chili verde, sloppy joes and the pea soup. That was basically throwing the stuff in the crockpot, cooking, cooling, and sticking it in the freezer. I will definitely freezer cook again, but since starting to research it, I've found other resources on the internet that I think will be more helpful than the book I used.

Just because he's so cute

Mom, do I really have to have another picture taken?

Ok, I'll smile if I have to!

I love my teether toy. Those teeth kind of hurt!

I am so cute...

must be the big blue eyes!

Excavators for Sale

Do ya think they need a sandbox?

Winning at Walgreens

So I'm going to post all my Walgreen's trips with the above title. I may have gotten that name from some other blog but I'm not sure where, and since I'm pretty sure it doesn't have a copy right, I'm going with it. And if these posts bore you, just skip them. I won't be offended, I promise. Ok, maybe just a little bit. Kidding! The posts are for my benefit too so I can go back and look at what the best prices on things are.

So, without further ado, here are a couple Walgreen's trips.

On Saturday, I stopped at two Walgreen's in a vain attempt to score some free toothpaste. Alas, it was not to be. A kind cashier informed me that the higher ups hadn't ordered enough toothpaste for the stores so they were totally out. BUT I was still able to get some cheap deodorant and instant coffee:

Total OOP: I lost my receipt! But it was less than 5 bucks and I got $8 RR.

The instant coffee was out at the first 2 stores. I was able to find 4 at the last store by scrounging around at the back of the shelf. They were $1 each and I got back $4 RR when I bought 4.

Today's trip:

4 Quaker Oats, 3 Purex, 1 Herbal Essence shampoo, 1 Herbal Essence hairspray, 1 Colgate, 4 chocolate bunnies

Total OOP: $6.50 and received $5 RR.

So you may have been noticing that all of my pictures have a little something in them that was bought without coupons and seems to be a fluff item. The rule with RRs is that you have to have the same number of items as coupons in order to use the RR. RRs, Wags coupons, and manufacturers coupons all count. I had a total of 14 coupons and RRs so I needed 14 items. So I added in 4 chocolate bunnies at 39 cents each. I'm sure the boys will be glad I did tomorrow. :-)

What's Cookin'

Mon~We had pancakes and sausage. Chris isn't feeling well so he didn't feel like dinner.

Tues~Sloppy joes, oven potatoes, carrot sticks (These are from the freezer. A detailed freezer cooking post is coming soon!)

Wed~Pea soup, french bread

Thurs~Spaghetti pie (freezer), green beans

Fri~Bangers and mash, carrots

Sat~Frozen pizza, salad

Sun~Chicken noodle soup, bread