Sunday morning, I got up at 4:15 am. I was on the schedule to tutor from 5-6 am, so I thought I would get up extra early and go ahead and shower before my shift. I then tutored until 6, then I got ready and headed out the door at 6:30 am to do my shopping for the week. Crazy, I know. My thought process behind that was that I could get my shopping out of the way for the week so I wouldn't have to worry about it later.
So I drove my sleepy self down to Walgreen's, picked up my newspaper (and got a free pair of small, child-safe scissors--to keep with my coupons--with my $2 Register Rewards from last week!), and started clipping coupons in my car. It's pathetic, I know, but I was eager to do my shopping super early. I clipped a bunch of coupons from the P&G coupon booklet, then headed over to CVS for what I call my "Crazy Coupon Lady CVS Shopping Spree." I previewed the CVS weekly ad on their website on Saturday night, plus used another of my favorite blogs, Southern Savers, to plan my shopping trip. There are a lot of good ECB deals this week that can be easily paired with coupons to get good savings, so I did my first ever major shopping trip at CVS (with multiple transactions!). Everything pictured below cost me 95 cents each, out of pocket, plus I got $10 in ECBs to use on my next purchase!
- 2 Crest Pro-Health toothpastes at $3.29 each
- used $1.75 in coupons = $4.83 total
- got $6.51 back in ECBs ($3.29 for each toothpaste)
- 4 bottles of Excedrin (two at $5.79 each, one at $4.69, and one at $4.99)
- used 2 Free Excedrin coupons on the $5.79 bottles = 2 for FREE
- used another $3.50 in coupons = 1 bottle at $2.49, another at $3.69
- got $10 back in ECBs because I had $20 worth of Excedrin
**I used the $2 in ECBs from last week and spent $9.34 out of pocket. I got $16.58 back in ECBs!
2nd Transaction:
- 5 boxes of Puffs tissues at $1 each
- used a 50 cents off 2 coupon = 80 cents each or $4 total
- 2 bottles of Tide (50 oz.) at $5.94 each
- used two 35 cents off coupons = $5.59 each or $11.18 total
- 3 bottles of Dawn dish liquid at 94 cents each
- used $1.50 in coupons = 44 cents each or $1.32 total
- 12 rolls of Charmin toilet paper at $4.99
- used $1 off coupon = $3.99
- Covergirl mascara at $5.99
- used $2.50 in coupons = $3.49
**I used my $16.58 in ECBs from the first transaction, making this only 9.43 out of pocket, plus I got another $10 in ECBs for buying $30 worth of P&G products!
I was at CVS way longer than I should have been due to some mistakes made by the cashier, but I was patient as she redid my transaction three times so that I could get all of the savings. I think she accidentally gave me an extra $1.75 back on my card, but I'm just now realizing this.
After my fun time at CVS, I went over to Kroger. There wasn't much on sale as far as food is concerned. Thankfully, we've got a ton of food stocked up for a while, so I actually only needed bread and mayo from the grocery department. I used the rest of the money in my budget to stock up on household items.
I got 3 bottles of Downy fabric softener for $3.99 each, 4 bottles of Gillette body wash for 75 cents each, and 16 rolls of Charmin toilet paper for $2.99. I ended up spending $23.70 total. This is everything I bought yesterday from Kroger and CVS, which cost $40.72..
I also ordered 1,224 Pampers wipes from Amazon for $1.51 shipped (normally this would cost at least $30 without shipping). I bought one box of 504 wipes and another of 720. There is a Pampers Amazon deal going on right now for 10% off when you use the code MOMWIPES. Also, I'm an Amazon Mom member (which is free and gives 15% off baby items). I also used the Subscribe and Save option, which gave me another 15% off my order. I used 2 $10 off codes to the Amazon baby store...so I only spent $1.51 total!
My total for the week is $42.23.
It might seem silly, but I'm thanking God every day for the savings we have found using coupons...it's a fun hobby for me, and I feel like I'm contributing to our household by saving a lot of money on things we need.
-Kristen
I have had a rough week so far. Ellie had her 6 month checkup last Friday and the doctor found that she has an ear infection. I kinda suspected that she did, because she kept pulling on her ear, but otherwise she acted normal (no fever, no pain). He prescribed an antibiotic, so I figured it wasn't that big of a deal. Over the weekend, she was very fussy and wanted to be held a lot, which isn't like her. I felt like the weekend wasn't relaxing at all....and I was worried about Ellie the whole time. She still didn't have a fever, but she was just acting weird. It got worse on Monday, so I talked to the "phone nurse" at Ellie's doctor's office, and she said that she should be doing better by now, but to call the next day if it seemed worse. So yesterday, we had the same scenario of crying, fussing, and a general lack of happiness. We went back to the doctor so he could check her ears again, and he said that it's starting to look better, so she's just recovering very slowly. He prescribed us some ear drops that are supposed to relieve pain, and they do seem to be working. She had a better night last night, and I'm really hoping she feels better today.
In other Ellie news, we also started solids this weekend. Her doctor suggested we delay solids until 6 months because of being premature, small, and having reflux. I've been giving her rice cereal (up until yesterday), and she seems to enjoy the experience. So far she's not really swallowing a lot of it, but she does occasionally! She's doing as well as I can expect with it...it's so fun to feed her something on a spoon, I just like the change from bottle feedings and formula (that stuff is so gross). I think the cereal gives her bad gas, though...she's been stinking up our house quite frequently since starting cereal.
Other than that, not much is going on in my life. I'm still tutoring, which is going well, except that I wish I could do better hours...I just can't find the right balance yet. It seems like I either tutor really late at night, or really early in the morning, both of which interrupt my sleep. I don't know about you, but I need my sleep. I'm one of those people who isn't a morning or a night person...if I could, I would just sleep 24/7. There's probably something wrong with me....
I also start babysitting next week. I'm nervous about it, since it will be such a huge adjustment for everyone involved, but I've been praying that it will be a smooth transition and everything will work out well. God has His hand in it, and I know that things will get easier with time.
My mom is coming up to visit today, which I'm really looking forward to. I haven't seen her in a while, so it will be nice to hang out for a while today. I really hope Ellie will be feeling better. Plus, she's already started going through stranger anxiety. She'll be fine and smiling one minute, and then if someone other than me or Billy gets too close to her, she'll stick out that bottom lip, pout for a second, and then just have a meltdown. It's so sad, and I don't know what to do about it. I know I need to be sensitive to her anxiety, because she's a baby and she can't understand social norms yet, but at the same time I get embarrassed when it happens. I think the general public expects all babies to be sweet and happy, so they just get right up in their faces and start talking in a weird voice...that would probably scare me, too. It does bother me a little when she does it to family, but I guess she doesn't know the difference between family members and strangers yet, since Billy and I are the only people she's with consistently. One thing I absolutely love and could never get tired of is that she adores Billy. He's like her knight in shining armor...he walks through the door, and she lights up and gives him a huge grin, then buries her face in my shoulder like she's being all bashful. She laughs so easily at him (I don't blame her, I do too!) and she can't take her eyes off him. It's the sweetest thing in the world, and I love it!
As far as my grocery shopping this week, I did almost all of it on Sunday afternoon so I could get it out of the way. I think that will have to be my new norm, since I'll be babysitting from now until the end of May and won't have time during the day to go grocery shopping (with two babies...can you imagine?!). I shopped at Kroger, CVS, Walgreens, and Petsmart on Sunday, then went to Target on Monday. I got a few really good deals, and stayed under my $50 weekly budget (including diapers, dog food, paper towels, cleaning supplies....who would have thought?!).
Pictured below is my Sunday shopping trip. I spent $34.09 on everything pictured.
At Kroger, I got paper towels for $5.99 (used $1 coupon), the Simply Juices for $1.68 each ($1 off coupons for each), BBQ sauce for 69 cents, and Gatorade for 69 cents each. I used the $3 off coupon from last week's event, plus got another one to use next week. I spent a total of $24.70 at Kroger. We didn't need a whole lot this week, because we've had random things going on this month and haven't stuck to the meal calendar. In a way, it's a blessing, because then I have everything I need to make dinner, and I don't necessarily need to go to the store. We've got a freezer full of meat, plus lots of canned goods in the cabinets, so we've got enough food to last for at least 2 weeks without going to the store. Anyway, that's why I didn't spend much at Kroger this week.
At Walgreens, I bought a jumbo pack of Pampers diapers, which were on sale for $8.99. I used $3 in coupons, so I paid $6.44 out of pocket (includes tax) and got $2 back in Register Rewards.
At CVS, I bought another jumbo pack of Pampers diapers, which were on sale for the same price as Walgreens. I used a $1 coupon, bringing the price down to $7.99. I had $7.58 in ExtraCare Bucks from last week, so I ended up only paying $2.70 (also purchased a Sunday paper). I also got $2 back in ECBs!
I also went to Petsmart this week...I never usually go there, but they had a sale on the 5 lb bags of Science Diet Light Dog Food for $5, and there was a $5 coupon in an old Sunday ad, so I ended up paying just the tax for the dog food....25 cents!
On Monday, I went out to Target while Ellie was napping (and Billy graciously stayed home with her). I didn't take a picture (I was exhausted and just wanted to clean up and go to bed), so use your imagination! I bought dish soap for 69 cents, 2 3-packs of Dentyne gum for 4 cents each, ibuprofen for free, pantiliners for 14 cents, pasta for 79 cents each, and shredded cheese for $1.44 each. Total spent was $7.18. I got all of the coupon matchups from Money Saving Mom.
My total this week came to $41.27, and I saved $43.08. I'm so thankful for the learning experience couponing has been for me so far. God has taught me so much about being frugal....this time last year, I was spending $100 a week on groceries...so awful. I'm so glad that there are opportunities like couponing, which ends up saving us so much money...and I'm also very thankful for all those other frugal shoppers out there...I feel like we have our own little community and culture going on.
I wanted to write a short thing about a devotional book I'm reading right now, but I'll have to save that for another day. It's 7:15 am, and I need to eat breakfast, shower, and get ready to care for my little one!
-Kristen
I feel like the past few days have been filled with new things for me. Like I mentioned in a previous post, Billy and I are looking at getting new carpet and vinyl for our house. Anyone who's done any home renovating knows how stressful it can be (especially for those do-it-yourselfers out there...). Working with a carpet store has been SO easy. Well, once we found the right store, it's been easy. We got our first estimate from Carpet Land, which wasn't so bad. They were marginally helpful, but we tried to set up a measurement appointment and the girl never called me. I'm not about to call her to remind her to do her job! We also got an estimate from Home Depot...NEVER AGAIN. They weren't helpful one bit, and they didn't even seem to care whether they got our business or not. The place we are going with is Michael's Carpet World...they have been so helpful from the beginning and I feel like they really try to answer all of my questions and meet my needs. They came out Monday to measure our house, and that evening we picked a few samples to try to decide what carpet we want (vinyl was a piece of cake). We have our estimate, which isn't nearly as bad as we initially thought it would be, and they'll fix the floor in the kitchen where Shelley decided that vinyl and sub-flooring looked super tasty. We've already got our appointments set up, so by mid-March all of the flooring will be done....YAY!!! So that's been adventure #1.
Adventure #2 has been tutoring for Tutor.com. I started pursuing this back in December, and the application process is really long so it took a few weeks before I could finally have my interview. After they accepted me as a tutor, my life has been a little busy with various things going on, and so I didn't start tutoring until this week. I'm one of those people who likes a schedule, but since I'm a probationary tutor, most of the hours are already taken up by the time I'm able to access the schedule. I was finally able to pick up a few hours this week from people dropping the time slots they've already scheduled. The first time I tutored was Monday morning from 12 AM - 1 AM.....I was soooo sleepy, but I spent 80% of the hour tutoring, so that kept me awake. I also tutored Monday morning from 5-6 AM, which was very early for me, but I'm motivated to earn some money. I tutored last night from 11-12:45 AM, and I tutor again tonight from 7-8 PM. I tutor in English and Essay Writing for elementary through college age students. I thought I wouldn't like it, since it's like chatting online, but so far it's gone really well and I'm so happy about it. The only thing that's a bit annoying is that since I can't schedule many hours, I have to "float" in order to move up to the next tutoring status. Basically, I just sit in front of the computer until someone needs tutoring, but I don't get paid for the waiting time if I'm floating. Anyway, I'm kinda excited that this is working out so far, because I'm using my teaching skills, earning money, and I don't have to leave my house to do it!
I also tried disc golf yesterday with Billy...I thought I was going to hate it, but it wasn't too bad. I guess it's a good way for me to get out of the house, and Billy really likes it, so it gives us something to do together. I had to wear Ellie in the carrier, and after 18 disc golf holes, I was dying to get her off! Even though she's little, she kills my back when I wear her in that thing...I think she had fun though. She likes to be able to see what's going on, and she didn't fuss at all the whole time. She did get sleepy toward the end because she kept drooping forward and falling asleep, but then every time I threw the disc she would wake up again.
I guess another new thing this week is that I tried asparagus for the first time....totally tastes like steamed green beans. I wasn't sure how to make asparagus, so I used the Cake Boss' recipe for Roasted Asparagus, which was pretty good.
I did my grocery shopping on Sunday so that Billy could watch Ellie for me, and it took forever, but at least I got it out of the way.
At Target, I got a three-pack of Suave for Men shampoo for $3.75 ($1.25 per bottle, typically $1.90 ish, I think).
At CVS, I got two tubes of Colgate Sensitive toothpaste for $2.79 each or $5.96 total (originally $3.79, used 2 $1 off coupons), and got $7.58 back in CVS Extra Care Bucks (so I got more back than what I actually paid)!
At Walmart, I got an 80 count pack of Gain dryer sheets for 28 cents! I used the $3 off coupon in Sunday's paper.
At Kroger, a few of my good deals were two free Colgate toothpastes (so now we're REALLY stocked up on toothpaste...if anyone needs some, we've got about 6 tubes in the linen closet!), 5 bottles of Gatorade for 49 cents each (bought as part of the Daytona Event, then used $1 off 5 coupon), 3 jars of Ragu for $1.45 each, and a sirloin tip roast on sale. At checkout, I got a $3 off coupon for my next trip to Kroger as part of the Daytona Event.
For the whole week, including all the toiletries and household items, my grocery bill totaled $48.06! My savings were $20.93, plus I got the $3 coupon toward Kroger and $7.58 in ECBs to CVS. I'm so excited that I stayed under $50 including toiletries and household items...it's been a secret goal of mine the past couple of weeks to start lowering my grocery bill goal. Initially, I set our goal for $50 a week only on groceries and didn't include any other items in that goal. I think it's realistic for me to lower our food grocery goal to $40 a week and set the $10 aside from the initial goal to go toward toiletries or other things like baby food, diapers, whatever.
I think that's all from me, so now I'm going to go finish prepping for dinner (Farfalle Festival tonight!) and then read Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban until Ellie wakes up!
So I tried out a few new recipes this week, and I'm happy to report that they were successful, despite my clumsiness and lack of know-how in the kitchen!
First, I made Bacon-Wrapped Apple BBQ Chicken in the crock-pot (recipe found on Money Saving Mom's recipe link). I was very unsure about this one, but Billy liked it and I thought it was pretty good, too.
Ingredients:
- 3-4 chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup BBQ sauce
- 1-2 apples, peeled and grated
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 6 slices bacon
1. Combine BBQ sauce, grated apple, and lemon juice in small bowl.
2. Place chicken in crockpot and pour BBQ sauce mixture over chicken.
3. Wrap 2 pieces of bacon around each chicken breast.
4. Cook on low for 8 hours.
The only thing I might change about it is add more BBQ sauce....I loooove sauce, and I didn't think it was enough.
The next recipe I tried was a No Boiling, No Meat Lasagna from Ragu.
Ingredients:
- 30 ounces ricotta cheese
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella
- 1/2 cup parmesan
- 2 eggs
- 2 jars pasta sauce
- 12 uncooked lasagna noodles
Side note: I did my own variation on this one, using whole wheat noodles and a little less parmesan because I didn't have enough. Also, I used 1 whole jar of Prego sauce, then some leftover Ragu and pizza sauce from the refrigerator. Probably 1 and 1/2 jars total.
1. Combine ricotta, 1 cup mozzarella, 1/4 cup parmesan, and eggs.
2. Spread 1 cup sauce in 9x13 dish.
3. Layer 4 uncooked noodles, 1 cup sauce, and 1/2 ricotta mixture; repeat.
4. Top with remaining noodles and 2 cups of sauce.
5. Bake covered at 375 for 1 hour.
5. Uncover, sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Bake 10 minutes.
It came out really well, and I like that it doesn't require meat, so it saves us some money. It tasted kind of sweet, but I'm not sure if that's due to the whole wheat pasta or the pizza sauce (maybe both). Regardless, it was very good and we'll definitely be making it again. No more frozen lasagna for this household!
With the lasagna, I made homemade french bread. I got the recipe from Finding Joy in My Kitchen, which gives a step by step explanation (with pictures!) for people like me (a.k.a. not kitchen-savvy). I had all of the ingredients on hand, so I didn't even have to prepare by going to Kroger!
- 8 cups Chex cereal
- 1/3 cup peanuts
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- 2/3 cup peanut butter
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1. Combine cereal and peanuts in large bowl and set aside.
2. Combine choclate chips and peanut butter in small bowl. Microwave on high 1 minute; stir. If not completely melted, microwave another 15-30 seconds, and stir again until smooth.
3. Pour chocolate mixture over cereal mixture; stir until all pieces are evenly coated.
4. Pour powdered sugar into large resealable plastic bag; add cereal mixture. Shake in sealed bag until all pieces are well coated.
This stuff is evilly addictive, so I have to limit myself to a very small portion in a very small bowl. It definitely satisfied my cravings last night, and I enjoyed snacking while watching The Office.
It has been an interesting week of trying new recipes...I'm learning a lot about cooking, and also realizing that mistakes happen and things don't always turn out great, but it's just a learning experience. I have this tendency to feel like a failure if I try something new and it doesn't work out, but I'm slowly learning that it's okay to make mistakes....the point is to put yourself out there and try something new. I'm very grateful to all the blogs out there dedicated to cooking, because I'm like a Kindergartner....I need pictures in order to follow directions correctly!
Now I'm going to go and relax for a few minutes before Ellie wakes up.....maybe snack on some Puppy Chow and read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets for the tenth time. (Yes, I'm working my way through the series again...I just can't help myself).
Blessings.....Kristen
So far this week has gone pretty well. We've been pretty busy the past several days trying to take care of various errands, projects, and meeting up with friends. Last week and over the weekend we got price quotes on getting our house carpeted. Currently, just our bedroom and the hallway are carpeted, and Ellie's room and the living room are hardwood. I like the way hardwood looks, but I think carpet would be way easier for me to keep clean. That might sound ridiculous (I've gotten many reactions to that statement), but if you have a dog, you know that the hair just floats around and you can never vacuum all of it up. At least with carpet it will stick and then I can just run the vacuum over it. Right now, I have to walk around using the vacuum attachment to try to get what I can, and then I use the Swiffer WetJet to try to get the dirt off the floor. It's annoying, and I really just want to make my life easier. Plus, we need new carpet in the bedroom desperately, and Ellie needs to have her room carpeted.
We also went to Roanoke over the weekend to have a Bradley class reunion, so that was fun, and Billy was actually able to come for once! It's always nice to get together with other mommies and talk about what we're all going through.
Other than that, I've just been busy editing this article, which I am happy to say I am now done with! It took me way too long to buckle down and do it, and then I had to spread it out over several days so that I wouldn't pull my hair out. It is now DONE...at least for the moment.
I did all of my grocery shopping on Monday this week so that I didn't have to worry about it later. It took me 3 whole hours to go to Once Upon a Child, Target, Sam's Club, and Kroger, but Ellie was a little champ and didn't complain one bit (makes me a happy mommy)!
My Target shopping trip consisted of picking up prescriptions, baby food, shredded cheese, and Clorox wipes.
- 13 2-packs of Gerber baby food: orig. around $1-$1.50 (depending on where you go), on sale 80 cents each, then used $4 in coupons = $6.40 or 50 cents each!
- 2 bags of Kraft shredded cheese: orig. $2.50 each, used $1.50 off coupon = $1.75 each
- Huggies travel size wipes: orig. $1.27, used 75 cents off coupon = 52 cents
- Up and Up liners: orig. 89 cents, used 50 cents off coupon = 39 cents
- Clorox multipack (105 wipes): on sale $4.99, used $1.50 in coupons = $3.50 or $1.16 each
Total cost = $14.28
At Sam's Club, I bought 6 pounds of ground beef for $17.43 and 6 pounds of reduced-price chicken breasts for $9. Total cost = $27.09. We now have enough meat for 6 chicken dinners and 6 ground beef dinners...enough for the whole month! This morning, I spent 45 minutes trimming and cubing the chicken for the dinners I have planned this month, as well as separating the 6 pounds of beef into separate bags.
At Kroger, I bought our usual grocery needs for the week.
I got the hot dogs for $1.62 each, the Folgers K-Cups for $5.99, pasta for $1, Kraft salad dressing for $1.69 each, 2 packs of baby wipes (Kroger brand) for 75 cents each, free Pillsbury cinnamon rolls, and free bacon (gotta love those Kroger coupons they send in the mail every now and then)! Total cost = 36.77
I spent more than $50 this week when you add it all up, but if I just add up the grocery items it comes to $65.27. Then, if I divide the total amount of money I spent on a month's worth of meat by the 4 weeks it will last, my total for this week is technically $44.95. I saved $30.89 with sales and coupons.
Sitting here going over my receipts just reminded me of something. Last Sunday, I made a quick run to Kroger to get some things we needed for the Superbowl. I bought a pack of sausage, tortilla chips, Velveeta cheese, taco seasoning, and a pack of ground beef....and I spent $20! It was horrible....I couldn't believe how much money it cost. I only saved 69 cents, and that was because of my Kroger Plus card. I didn't do any coupons because I was in a hurry, but oh my gosh! It's amazing how much money you can save when you take the time to coupon.
By the way, I feel the need to be honest about something. Lately, I've been comparing myself to other people so much so that I've become jealous or gotten down about myself. I have struggled with this my whole life, so it's not something I can easily give up. It's definitely been a process trying to train my brain to think a certain way, but sometimes I'm still weak and I give in to the temptation to think that I'm not good enough. It comes at the silliest moments...maybe when I'm reading a blog and I see that someone got a better deal than I did on an item, or I know someone who's lost all of her baby weight and I'm still working on it. Regardless of what it's about, it's unhealthy and totally not worth it. Sometimes, I think it helps hold me accountable for these sort of things when I blog about it.
I'm trying out some new recipes this week, so my plan is to take pictures and share the recipes later this week (but only if they turn out good!). We'll see.
Ellie is awake and ready to go, which means I'm done here. Will post again soon!
I can't believe it's already February. Time has been flying by, especially with Billy being in school. And Ellie will be 6 months old in a little over two weeks! My little girl is really growing up...she's trying to sit up on her own, blows raspberries, grabs everything she can reach off the table, and she talks non-stop. She's definitely her own little person. She knows exactly what she wants when she wants it (and lets us know about it!) and she's a MAJOR Daddy's girl. I don't mind that at all, though...I think every girl should be enamored with her daddy, and I'm hoping it will influence her choice in a future husband. I've already been praying about that little boy out there who's meant to be Ellie's husband, asking God to set him aside for her and that he would grow up to be a man of God. I think I'll be praying about that one for the next 20+ years lol.
In other news, I did my grocery shopping this week and spent $40. Not too shabby! I didn't get any crazy good deals (thus, no picture) but I did save a lot on pasta sauce, soup, and more Sobe drinks. I also went to Target this week and used one of my free Excedrin coupons, so I got a $5.99 bottle for free. I also bought two boxes (108 count) of Luvs diapers at $16.99 each and got a $10 gift card at Target. I still plan on going by CVS this week to get another bottle of Dawn dish soap for free because I got another $1 Dawn Hand Renewal coupon in the mail, making the small bottles at CVS free. I also got a 25 cents off coupon on regular Dawn, but I'm not sure if I want to use it on a small bottle at CVS or wait until it goes on sale at Kroger and get the coupon doubled. I'll have to decide on that later, I guess.
I'm trying to make myself eat more fresh produce. I love vegetables like squash, zucchini, and broccoli, but Billy hates them, therefore I never buy any fresh veggies. I'm not a big fruit person...I like my occasional apples and grapes, but that's about all I eat. I've been trying to get better about eating fruit (especially when it's on sale at Kroger), so I tried making strawberry smoothies last week and I really liked them. I used a cup of strawberries, a cup of orange juice, 10 ice cubes, and blended it together. The recipe I found online said to add sugar, but I didn't because I don't like things really sweet. It turned out great and so I've become a bit more confident about eating fruit. This week, I purchased strawberries, raspberries, and bananas to use in smoothies, as well as pineapple mango juice. Hoping my experimental combinations come out okay.
This reminds me....does anyone have any good ideas for buying fresh, inexpensive produce? I really want to try to eat things that are fresher, and of course I love good deals, but I'm racking my brain trying to think of where I could get good deals on produce. I know the best time to buy anything is when it's in season, but other than that, is my best bet going to be Kroger? We have a natural foods store here, but I've been there once and it didn't seem like the best place for saving money. I've also thought about going to the Farmer's Market in the spring and summer (I'm pretty sure there's one here in Lynchburg, and I know there's one in Roanoke), but then again, I'm not sure I would get good deals there. My dream would be to grow my own produce, but we have very little space in our yard and I'm sure our dear Shelley would eat whatever she could find. Any ideas?
This week, I've been (unsuccessfully) working on creating a blog header for my blog. Not that this blog is a hotspot (I have 4 followers lol), but I just want my blog to look nice. I've been using a tutorial from Clover Lane but I'm getting hung up on the pictures I'm using. I tried to get Billy's input, and he was helpful, but I really want him to just do it for me =). I'm not super computer savvy, just enough to be dangerous, as Billy puts it. I can follow the instructions from the tutorial, but I just don't know what pictures to use. I have a lot of pictures I love, but when you put 3 or 4 of them together, it gets a little busy. I'm trying to decide if I should just go take some new, simpler pictures, or pull some random old pictures....I have no idea. I've been avoiding thinking about it the past couple of days. I guess I'll get around to it eventually.
I just remembered, I got a really good deal at Shutterfly this week! Because I ordered so much stuff from them last year, they gave me a code for a free 8x8 photo book! All I had to pay was shipping. Of course, I made it all about Ellie, but I'm so excited that it was free, and I get to have a cute photo book of her first 5 months!
Today, I've been working on the meal calendar for the month. I'm almost done, I just have two open days and I'm not sure what to make. Hoping I will be inspired as I browse online. I decided to do something new this month and color code each day based on what type of meat we're eating.
red = beef
blue = chicken
yellow = pork
pink = fish
green = no meat
That way, I'll know what to defrost in the morning so that it's ready in the evening. I also thought it would help me as I plan the grocery list so I know how much meat I need for the week. Hoping it will be another helpful way to keep track of everything and keep me organized.
I have to confess, I've been super lazy about my cleaning list, which was my January goal. I had it all printed and ready, and then I got sick and did absolutely nothing for several days, and it messed up my routine. Then I revised the list, and I've never reprinted it. Shame on me. I'm hoping to be better about it this month...I'm actually going to print it right now so that I don't have an excuse!
That's all from me.....Kristen
