Saving Families Money Since 2007
Here are what freebies arrived in my mailbox this week:
Free Kleenex Cool Touch samples
Free RedMonkey Seasoning samples
Free can of Progresso Soup coupon
What freebies have arrived in your mailbox this week?
By the way, if you want to start getting great freebies in your mailbox, just start signing up for the freebies I post every day that interest you. Within 4-6 weeks, your mailbox will start filling up with great freebies!
I did a quick Freezer Cooking in an Hour session on Thursday morning while the children worked on some homeschooling projects at the kitchen table. I had picked really simple and easy recipes, so everything went off without much of a hitch.
11:oo a.m. — Set the timer and threw all the ingredients for the Easy Italian Breadsticks in the bread machine.
11:05 a.m. — Put all the Crockpot Tortilla Soup ingredients in the crockpot to simmer.
11:18 a.m. — Started making the Chocolate Banana Bread. Jesse called and we talked for a few minutes while I finished up the bread.
11:22 a.m. — Stuck the bread in the oven and sat down to finish our morning homeschooling lessons while yummy smells wafted through the house.
12:30 p.m. — I pulled the bread out of the oven and let it cool. Then, we taste-tested some Chocolate Banana Bread before I sliced the rest and froze it. (It was so good that I knew it wouldn’t last long unless I froze it right away!).
Later that afternoon, Kaitlynn helped me make the dough into Easy Italian Breadsticks and we baked those.
All together, it took me about 55 minutes total to make a batch of Easy Italian Breadsticks, a loaf of Chocolate Banana Bread, and a big pot of Crockpot Tortilla Soup that will last us for two dinners and one lunch. Being intentional about cooking ahead a little bit once or twice a week can really be a sanity-saver!
Note: The breadsticks and banana bread were fantastic. We thought the soup was just so-so.
Did you bake or cook anything to freeze this week? I’d love to hear about it and see a link to your recipe, if you have one.
I was really excited to see The Ultimate Guide to Freezer Friendly Meals: Chicken ebook that two bloggers put together. It was well-laid out out, organized, and full of yummy-looking recipes.
Many of the recipes were ones that are already our family favorites or looked like something we’d love. I especially appreciated that the recipes were simple and used basic, normal ingredients (no leeks or mussels listed!).
I did want to mention that I was expecting all of the recipes in this ebook to be freezer recipes, but from what I counted, only 12 of the recipes actually included detailed freezer/thawing instructions. Many of the recipes just used frozen or fresh chicken and were intended to be prepared and served immediately. Most of them could have easily been adapted for freezing and I would have loved to see that element added to this ebook to make it live up to its name more.
But otherwise, I thought it was a great ebook and would be beneficial to someone who buys chicken in bulk or is looking for some tried and true chicken recipes.
Would you like to win a free copy of The Ultimate Guide to Freezer Friendly Meals: Chicken ebook? To enter to win a free copy or one of two $50 Amazon.com gift cards, just click on the graphic below and type in your name and email address. 10 winners will be chosen and posted on Monday. This giveaway ends Sunday, October 23, at 11:59 pm, CST.
The Rose Conspiracy — This is the second fiction book I’ve read this month. If you know me well, you know that is very out-of-character for me, but I’ve been trying to break out of my non-fiction rut a little bit. And Craig Parshall’s book was good enough to capture my attention and keep it. In fact, I knew I was going to enjoy this book after I didn’t want to put it down after the second page.
If you enjoy legal fiction, you should definitely check this book out. It’s intriguing, thought-provoking, and overall well-written. Some of the plot was a bit weak, but it was still very engaging.
Forgotten God — In typical Francis Chan style, this book will make you think, examine your heart, and plumb the depths of your beliefs about the Holy Spirit. You may not agree with all of the author’s conclusions, but I can guarantee you that it will make you think and re-examine Scripture in a new light. Highly recommended.
By the way, if you’ve not read Crazy Love, I’d heartily recommend that book as well. One of the best books I’ve read this year.
Don’t Make Me Come Up There — If you are a mom or care for children on a regular basis, you will find this book hilarious. Kristen is an incredibly gifted writer who knows how to communicate spot-on truth in a laugh-out-loud-funny manner. I hope this is the first of many books she writes. I will definitely be buying them all!
Paul Revere — I read this book when I was a youngster, so it was fun to get to enjoy it with my children. The Imagination Station: Showdown With the Shepherd — Another book in our well-loved Imagination Station series. And once again, the children were so captivated by it that I could have read the whole thing in one setting!
Currently reading: EntreLeadership, He Heard Hannah, Kisses from Katie, In Search of Balance,and listening to Purple Cow audiobook. You can see all of the books I’ve read in 2011 so far here. Read all of my book reviews here.
Have you read any good books recently?
(Note: The Amazon.com links in this post are affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy here.)
Reader Amy R. sent me this recipe and said “I wanted to share this recipe with you… It is definitely our family’s favorite bread. My husband calls them ‘Better than Olive Garden Breadsticks.'”
Better than Olive Garden Breadsticks? This I have to try!
So yesterday, I threw all of the ingredients in the bread machine before we started our homeschooling lessons.
A few hours later, the dough was ready to be rolled into breadsticks.
I was running short on time, so I rolled some into breadsticks and the rest I just rolled out and sliced.
Kaitlynn enjoyed helping me roll her own “breadsticks”.
The verdict? These were very delicious. I’m not sure that the sliced dough option worked as well as the breadsticks I actually rolled into “ropes”, but I will definitely be making this recipe again in the future.
The whole family agreed that this recipe was a keeper. Best of all, it is so simple!
Topping:
Place ingredients in your bread machine in order listed. Run the dough cycle. When complete, divide the dough into 12 balls and form into 4-6-inch ropes. Cover and let rise for 20 minutes or until doubled. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
Mix the butter and parmesan cheese and brush over breadsticks as soon as they come out of the oven.
Brooke emailed in:
I know that keeping the thermostat low in the winter and high in the summer can be a real money saver. My question what temperatures do people keep their homes at that balance saving money and comfort? -Brooke
We all have different families and circumstances, so what works for one family won’t necessarily work for others. However, just for fun, I’d love to hear what temperature you keep your house at in winter?
We’ve talked about a lot of different things in this series and I hope it’s been helpful and inspiring to you. But I want to close with a reminder:
Entrepreneurialism is something I’ve always been passionate about and I love to help people find creative ways to earn more money. However, it’s imperative to keep a balanced perspective.
Money doesn’t buy happiness. Money doesn’t equal fulfillment. If it did, Hollywood should have some of the happiest people in existence. In reality, many of them are struggling through divorce, depression, addictions, and more.
Consider why you want to earn more money: if it’s just so you can buy bigger and better stuff, I can tell you right now that it’s not worth it. The more you have, the more you’ll want. It will never be enough.
Properly stewarded, money can be an amazing tool. It can help feed and clothe the hungry. It can build houses, schools, hospitals in the poorest of countries. It can provide nourishment and medicine for malnourished children. It can help your disabled neighbor be able to pay her rent or your recently-widowed aunt be able to buy groceries.
Use your resources wisely. Invest your time carefully. And make the most of what you have been given so that you can bless others generously.
But remember that money is not the be-all and end-all of life. Don’t spend all your life chasing more and end up missing out on the richest moments of life.
There is more to life than a bigger paycheck.
My sister came over this afternoon and the children had so much fun making Teddy Bear Bread with her.
After it was finished, they blind-folded me and led me upstairs to see their creations.
Suffice it to say, they were a bit over-the-top excited. (I have a hunch they may have eaten quite a few chocolate chips while making it, from the looks of their faces!)
But it was a very special memory, despite the sticky chocolate mouths and finger prints on the kitchen wall. 🙂
Today’s questions is from Darice:
Does anyone hang their laundry inside during the winter? I am looking to minimize our use of the dryer this winter to cut back on our
electricity usage and would appreciate any techniques, tips or tricks you may have for drying your laundry inside without a dryer. Thanks! – Darice
Do you have a question you’d like to ask Money Saving Mom® readers? Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.
The Pinchers & Pom-Poms from our Busy Bag Swap has been a fun way to practice fine motor skills.
The Busy Bag that came in our swap had pom-poms, colored paper clips, and tongs. You should be able to get all of these items at the dollar store, if you don’t already have them on hand. Or, you can improvise using things you have.
The object of the Busy Bag is to use the pinchers to pick up the pom-poms and paper clips. I had Kaitlynn put them in a bowl. You could have a child sort them in piles by color. Or count out a certain number of objects.
Kaitlynn also enjoyed trying to pick up the pom-poms with the paper clips.
Find more Busy Bag ideas here.
So this Aldi shopping trip wasn’t as exciting as my Dillon’s shopping trip, but I here are the details:
Artisan Lettuce — $1.99 (I’m so happy to see Aldi carrying this and I hope they continue! It makes my salad-eating habit much more affordable!)
2 cans of diced tomatoes — $0.55 each
2 bags of frozen peas — $0.99 each
2 bags of corn chips — $0.99 each
2 bags of baby carrots — $0.99 each
1 bag of tortillas — $0.99
1 bag of chocolate chips — $1.69
2 8-oz. blocks of cheese — $1.99 each
Butter — $2.79
Feta cheese — $1.99
Dried cranberries — $1.39
Milk — $2.93
Total with tax: $26.60
It’s been awhile since I’ve had a really spectacular coupon-shopping trip. So I was pretty excited about tonight’s trip! Here’s what I bought:
2 boxes of Triscuits — $2.29 each, used $2/1 printable coupons = $0.29 each
2 Yoplait yogurts — $0.70 each, used $0.30/1 printable coupons (doubled) = $0.10 each
2 Schick Quattro razor packages — $3.50 each, used 2 $5/1 Ladies’ Quattro printable coupon = free plus overage
1 Schick Hydro Men’s razor — $6.29, used $5/1 Hydro printable coupon = $1.29 after coupon
2 Schick Quattro & Men’s Schick Xtreme razor — $3.16 & $3.50 each, used $6/2 printable coupon = $0.66 total for both
1 package Skittles — used free coupon
3 DOLE products — used 3 free coupons that Coupon Pro generously mailed me a few weeks ago
2 Clif LUNA bars — $1 each, used 2 $0.50/1 coupons (doubled) = free after coupons
1 Excedrin — $3.13, used $2/1 coupon (this printed at checkout the last time my husband went shopping) = $1.13 after coupon
Beech-Nut product — used free coupon
Before coupons and sales, my total was $58.18. After coupons and sales + a $5 catalina, the store owed me $0.73. I could have added on a small filler item, but I just decided to let the store have the small overage since I’d gotten overage myself already.
Just a little peek at some of the simple things from our day today…
Read-alouds and coloring pages (we’re studying Paul Revere in history and The Nutcracker Ballet in music this week)
Making Hasty Pudding for breakfast since we’re learning the words and story behind Yankee Doodle this week. (We all thought it tasted terrible, by the way!)
My yummy salad for lunch (I’ve been making an effort to eat at least one big salad every day since I feel so much better when I do!)
A fun Busy Bag (details and more pictures on this Busy Bag coming tomorrow!)
A bowl of cereal, thanks to some samples we got in the mail from FiberPlus–a big treat around here as I rarely buy cereal anymore.
Guest post by Alice from Farewell Office
When buying my son’s school uniforms, I often lament, “Why can’t I have a uniform, too?” Working in a professional environment can strain the clothing budget, but you can be well-dressed without spending a lot of money. Here are some rules I follow:
Buying clothes at discount stores is rarely cheaper in the long term. After repeated washings, a pair of $15.00 slacks will rarely look presentable for more than one season. Instead it is more cost effective to put that $15.00 towards a pair of quality slacks that will last for many seasons.
By shopping sales (especially clearance) and using coupons, a pair of good quality slacks rarely costs much more. Also, do not disqualify garage sales and thrift stores. You would be astonished at the stylish, high-quality clothes people throw out.
Stick to neutrals and simple styles. Stay away from skinny or wide leg cuts that will be out of style long before the item wears out.
Unless you live in a climate that is below freezing or scorching 11 months out of the year, you will get more wear out of season-less fabrics such as polyester/rayon/spandex blends. Also, I rarely buy long-sleeved shirts or sweaters.
One exception is cardigans. You will get more mileage from layering your pieces. For example, you can wear a short-sleeved shirt alone in the summer and then layer it under a cardigans in the winter.
Buy a skirt and blouse instead of a dress. This will create more combination outfits, giving you the appearance of a larger wardrobe.
This allows you to cheaply change your look.
If you only wear it one season, you won’t have wasted much.
Many of them send out coupons and paired with sales, high quality items rarely cost more discount store items.
Some stores offer discounts on certain days of the week, and certain retailers offer discounts to certain professions. For example, several stores offer additional discounts to teachers.
Be kind to your salespeople and they will gladly give you inside information like, “We make markdowns on Tuesday.” You then know that, if possible, you want to shop on Wednesday morning for the best selection.
Change your clothes when you get home from work and always wash in a high quality detergent. Finally, hang dry your clothes as the dryer’s heat breaks down the fibers prematurely.
Dressing well and professionally on a budget is possible; you simply need to be a savvy and resourceful shopper.
Alice is a wife and mother, who also works full-time outside of the home. Her goal is to do all work “as unto the Lord.” Her blog Farewell, Office chronicles her journey to do all of this on a time-budget.
