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July 21, 2019 | Crystal Paine

This Week’s $70 Grocery Budget

Want to see what we bought for this week’s $70 grocery budget? I’m currently challenging myself to stick with a $70 budget for our family of five. This includes almost all of our breakfasts, lunches, snacks, and dinners + most household products (toiletries, laundry soap, etc.).

For live updates, be sure to follow my Instagram Stories. See all posts on my $70 Grocery Budget here.

Kroger Shopping Trip #1

Rotisserie Chicken — marked down to $4.19
Broccoli Pearls — marked down to $1
Bag of Nectarines — marked down to $0.99
2 bottles of Kroger salad dressing — marked down to $0.79 each
Butter — $2.89
Eggs — $2.99
Green Leaf Lettuce — $1.79
4 cans of Campbell’s soup — on closeout for $0.50 each
Loaf of Quinoa Bread — marked down for $1.79 each
Brown Rice — $0.69
2 boxes Kellogg’s cereal — on sale for $1.79 when you buy 5 participating items, used $1/2 coupon = $1.29 each
3 boxes Mom’s Best cereal — $1.49 each when you buy 5 participating items
Total with tax: $28.86

I’ve been finding so many closeout deals at Kroger recently! If you have time when you’re at Kroger, I recommend going through each aisle and looking for the white closeout tags to see what you find!

I was excited about the Friday-Saturday deals at Kroger. And, as you can imagine, my kids were pretty excited about the $0.99 ice cream!

Kroger Shopping Trip #2

Think bar — Free with Free Friday coupon
5 tubs Kroger ice cream — $0.99 each with the Friday-Saturday deals
2 Pork Back Ribs — $1.67/lb with the Friday-Saturday deals
4 bags frozen peas and broccoli — $1 each
4 bags of fruit — marked down to $0.99 each
Total with tax: $21.92

Sprouts Shopping Trip

Kashi — free with Sprouts digital coupon
3 tubs of blueberries — on sale for $1.98 each
Total with tax: $6.58

Dollar Tree Shopping Trip

(We stopped by to buy a few things for a project Kathrynne was working on so I grabbed these two things while we were there.)

1 package of lentils — $1
1 package of swabs — $1
Total with tax: $2.18

What We Ate On Our $70 Grocery Budget This Past Week

Note: When you see the meals below, please remember this: I buy ahead often. Which means that when I find a great deal on something I know we’ll use, I buy as much as I can afford in our budget to have on hand.

This means that you aren’t going to see all of the groceries my shopping trip that I used to make all of the meals we ate.

Please also remember that I’m putting this out there and it’s not a perfectly balanced menu. This is just really what we ate — and I hope that it encourages you to see the real-ness and lack of perfection here.

Our Menu Plan

Breakfasts:

Scrambled Eggs/Avocado/Salsa, Fried Eggs, Cereal, Blueberries, Bran Muffins

Lunches:

Leftovers, Salad/Toast, Blueberries, Cereal, Soup, Banana Muffins, Watermelon

Snacks:

Popcorn, Cookies, Blueberries

Dinners:

Sunday — Leftovers/fend for yourself
Monday — Brats, Corn on the Cob
Tuesday — Chicken Casserole, Peas, Banana Muffins
Wednesday — Rotisserie Chicken, Rice, Fruit
Thursday — Broccoli and Rice Stirfry with Leftover Rotisserie Chicken, Watermelon
Friday — Olive Garden Take Out
Saturday — Meatballs, Peas, Leftover Olive Garden Breadsticks

$70 Grocery Budget Totals

Total spent on groceries: $59.54

Cashback earned this week: 100 points for submitting my receipts to Fetch rewards + $0.10 for submitting my receipt to iBotta rewards.

Want to cut your grocery budget? Go here and sign up (it’s free!) I’ll send you my 10 Easy Ways to Cut Your Grocery Bill By $50.

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July 8, 2019 | Crystal Paine

Easy Meals for 20+ People | Our Vacation Menu Plan for 28 People

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Need some easy meals for 20 people…or maybe just some easy recipes for large groups? Here’s how we fed 28 people on our recently family vacation including the meals we made + how we divvied up the responsibilities.

Be sure to also check out these Recipes for a Crowd of People on Vacation and these Cheap Meals for Large Groups!

Easy Meals for 20+ People

We recently went to Utah with my entire extended family (parents, 3 brothers, 3 sisters, and their spouses and kids). My dad rented a huge cabin for us to stay in and we all pitched in and helped with the food.

I thought it would be fun to share what we ate and how we planned and divided up the responsibilities. This might give you some inspiration in case you need some suggestions for easy meals for 20+ people!

How We Planned and Divvied Things Up

My sister planned the menu with easy meals that would feed a crowd and sent out a sign-up form using Perfect Potluck (it’s free and so easy to use!). Each family signed up for the main dishes and side dishes they wanted to be in charge of.

(A screenshot of the sign up form on Perfect Potluck.)

Whatever meals or parts of meals you signed up for, you were in charge of bringing the ingredients for and cooking/baking.

This time around, we also had a sign-up for kitchen clean-up, too, so that my dad wouldn’t spend the entire trip doing dishes. (He’s always working in the kitchen, it seems! He says he loves it, but 28 people make a LOT of dishes!)

What We Made for Breakfast

When you’re serving meals for 20+ people, breakfast is the simplest meal (in my opinion)!

Here’s what we served for breakfast:

Pancakes, Bacon, Scrambled Eggs, Orange Juice
Baked Oatmeal (my sister made the mix of the dry ingredients ahead of time for this), Sausage, Orange Juice
Cereal, Fruit, Leftover Pancakes & Eggs

What We Made for Lunch

For lunch, we had a huge Build-Your-Own Salad Bar (most all of my family loves salads!). We also had bread and meat/cheese for sandwiches for the kids and any adults who didn’t just want a salad. In addition, we set out any leftovers from breakfast or dinner.

Having a Build-Your-Own Salad Bar is such an easy meal for 20+ people — and frugal, too! All the ingredients can be stretched a really long way, since you’re only using a little bit of each ingredient on your salad.

Build-Your-Own Salad Bar Ingredients: A variety of Greens and Lettuce, Canned Tuna/Salmon, Boiled Eggs, Raisins, Seeds/Nuts, Avocados, Bell Peppers, Cucumbers, Chickpeas, Cherry Tomatoes, Dressings

What We Made for Dinner

If you’re looking for some really easy recipes for large groups, here’s what we made for the dinners:

Build-Your-Own Haystacks, Homemade Guacamole, Rice
Grilled Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Salad, Fruit, Green Beans, Homemade Rolls
Hamburgers/Hot Dogs, Tater Tots, Corn on the Cob, Watermelon, Veggie Tray, Steamed Broccoli

Here’s what our family contributed contributed (I went to Smith’s — a Kroger affiliate — and was able to get all of this for around $50!) + I brought some salad toppings, canned tuna and salmon, and some extra snacks in our luggage.

It’s amazing how it’s not too much work on any one person to feed 20+ people if we all pitch in and help!

What other ideas of easy meals for 20+ people or easy recipes for large groups do you have? I’d love to hear!

Want to cut your grocery budget? Go here and sign up (it’s free!) I’ll send you my 10 Easy Ways to Cut Your Grocery Bill By $50.

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June 20, 2019 | Olivia

Easy 4th of July Recipe | Patriotic Strawberry and Blueberry Muffins

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Looking for some really easy 4th of July recipes? These Patriotic Strawberry and Blueberry Muffins are delicious and super simple to whip up in a pinch!

{Looking for 4th of July desserts? Check out this Patriotic Mason Jar Ice Cream — so much fun for the whole family!}

Easy 4th of July Muffin Recipe

The 4th of July is right around the corner and will be here before we know it!!

If you’re looking for creative 4th of July recipes to take to an Independence Day potluck or family gathering, try these fun Patriotic Strawberry and Blueberry Muffins!

These Patriotic Muffins are ridiculously easy to whip up and they’re seriously some of the BEST muffins I’ve ever tasted!

They’re super moist and delicious — and it’s difficult to eat just one! You might want to make an extra batch just in case. 😉

If you’re looking for easy 4th of July recipes, these Strawberry and Blueberry Muffins are really versatile!

You could use them for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or even snack/dessert! I’d think they’d also be perfect for a brunch gathering!

You can eat them cooled or warmed, but I recommend them warm and slathered in butter. YUM!

I love the extra flavor twist that the strawberries add to the traditional blueberry muffins taste. But if you love the tart taste of raspberries, you could always substitute the strawberries for raspberries and still have a fun patriotic-themed 4th of July recipe!

The best part of these Patriotic Muffins? They freeze really well!

Make them ahead of time a few days or even a week before you need them, and then all you have to do is pull them out of the freezer a few hours before serving them! Eat them as-is or pop them in the microwave to warm them up.

Oh — and if you’re looking for a dairy free version, just substitute the yogurt with your favorite brand of dairy-free vanilla yogurt. Voila!

Patriotic Strawberry and Blueberry Muffins

4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups vanilla yogurt (I used dairy-free)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups each fresh blueberries and fresh chopped strawberries

Beat eggs in a bowl, and then gradually add in the sugar. While beating, slowly pour in the oil. Next, stir in vanilla and the yogurt.

Combine all dry ingredients and then add it to the egg mixture. Gently fold in blueberries and strawberries.

Spoon into muffin tins lined with paper muffin liners (I used patriotic ones). Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean.

Yields: 25-30 Muffins

Recipe slightly adapted from Taste of Home

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June 5, 2019 | Olivia

Easy 4th of July Dessert | Patriotic Mason Jar Ice Cream

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Looking for easy 4th of July desserts? This Patriotic Mason Jar Ice Cream is super delicious, so easy to make, and great holiday fun for the whole family!

{Psst! Be sure to check out our Oreo Ice Cream Cake recipe, too!}

Note from Crystal: I’m so excited to have my youngest sister, Olivia, sharing this fun patriotic dessert idea today! After SO many of you loved her Easter Candy Recipe, I thought it’d be fun for her to share a 4th of July dessert!

There’s nothing quite like a bowl of fresh, homemade ice cream! As a child, one of my favorite memories was pulling out the old wooden ice cream maker and cranking up some delicious goodness!

Sometimes we made it even easier by just using Ziplock bags! With ice, salt, and some vigorous shaking, the delicious ice cream was ready to sample. I can still remember the taste of that cold treat on a hot summer day!

This Mason Jar Ice Cream recipe is incredibly simple to make and takes just a few ingredients that you most likely already have on hand in your kitchen.

The mason jars serve as a fun, mess-free way to involve your kids, because they will love getting to shake up their own jar! Also, since the ice cream is mixed, made, and eaten out of the same mason jar, it really saves on dishes and clean-up.

This Mason Jar Ice Cream is a perfect 4th of July dessert, but it is also such a fun activity for the whole family to do together on the fourth!

Everyone can shake up a jar a couple hours before sunset. After the jars are frozen, everyone can enjoy their tasty treat while watching the fireworks explode!

Just look at that creamy vanilla deliciousness! Yum!

And the best part of this Mason Jar Ice Cream? It’s super versatile! Make it a patriotic 4th of July dessert using all kinds of different toppings — marshmallows, M&M’s, skittles, jelly beans, sprinkles, or fruit.

Anything that’s red, white, and blue will do the trick! I prefer fresh fruit, so I used strawberries and blueberries. (Raspberries would work, too.)

And sprinkles are just festive, so I had to try that, as well! 😉

Homemade Patriotic Mason Jar Ice Cream

Heavy whipping cream*, 1 cup
Sugar, 1 Tablespoon
Vanilla extract, 1 Teaspoon
Pinch of salt
Patriotic toppings (sprinkles, strawberries, blueberries, marshmallows, candies, etc.)

Combine all ingredients in a mason jar. Vigorously shake for 5 minutes (the lid should be coated with a thick cream). Wrap jar with wet paper towel, then freeze for 2-3 hours. Remove paper towel and stir with spoon. Finally, add your favorite patriotic toppings. Enjoy!

*If you’d like a less rich-tasting ice cream, then feel free to substitute up to half a cup with milk.

Yields: 1 mason jar

Recipe slightly adapted from Our Handcrafted Life

What are some of your favorite 4th of July desserts? Please share in the comments!!

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May 31, 2019 | Crystal Paine

55 Ways to Use Up Ripe Bananas

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Wondering what to do with ripe bananas on your kitchen counter? I love banana recipes, so I decided to put together a HUGE list of 55 things to make with ripe bananas!

(Psst! Be sure to check out our family’s very favorite Freezer-Friendly Banana Bread Recipe! We also really love these Homemade Breakfast Cookies!)

We love bananas at our house, but occasionally, life happens and it’s easy to let bananas go past their prime. Or, sometimes, I’ll find bananas marked down at the store because they are starting to get too ripe.

I’m really weird in that I prefer to eat bananas when they have some black spots on them, but the rest of my family won’t touch them once they are at the “Black Spot” stage.

When we have an abundance of over-ripe bananas, I either freeze them to use in smoothies and baking later, or I go ahead and make one of our favorite banana recipes with them.

What to Do With Ripe Bananas

I thought it might be fun to put together a list of some of my favorite things to make with ripe bananas!

The recipes on this list are a mixture of some of my favorite banana recipes right here on this blog, plus some other recipes I gathered from other sites that I hope to try soon.

Most of them are fairly healthful (with a few exceptions) and many of them are family favorites. Enjoy!!