Whew, that was a close call....

I'm thinking about painting my kitchen cabinets gray (or grey). Currently we have glossy white cabinets with a dark gray counter top, white tile back splash and white appliances. Ultimately, I'd like to knock a wall out and combine my kitchen and dining room. I'd put in new stainless appliances, a french door, more cabinets and an island. (Sorry, I went off to dreamland again....)

Realistically, our cabinets need repainting due to wear. The counter tops are in good shape as are our appliances. It seems the best idea is to change the color of the cabinets to something that will take a little more wear and not always seem dirty. Our FIF (Frugal Interim Fix) will be to repaint the cabinets and find some new hardware. The 80s wallpaper (large floral by Waverly) is outdated and everyone hates it. It will come down and we'll either repaint (preferred) or re-wallpaper. I think we can do this for about $200 if we don't have to re-wallpaper. The major cost will be the new hardware.

I tell you all this because as I was surfing the web last night trying to find pictures of grey cabinets, our laptop crashed - AGAIN. This time it would not even reboot - well, that's not exactly correct, actually it just kept rebooting over and over and would never complete the reboot. We thought all was lost and we'd probably have to trash it.

Today my own personal technician (DH) started working on it and by lunch time, the problem was solved. We don't know how long it will last and for now, it will only be good for web surfing but that's good enough. We certainly don't need to be buying a new laptop.

Thanks DH! You're amazing!

Last minute savings and donations

If you have -

any medications to purchase, do it this week. Many rebates and coupons expire Thursday.
any donations of money or materials to donate, do it this week so it will count for 2009.

I was able to fill two prescriptions last week. One of the drugs is name brand and had a $35 coupon per refill. I have been able to do this four times this year at a total savings of $140. The other drug is a generic. My generic co-pay for 2009 is only $5 however that doubles to $10 beginning January 1st. My filling this one, I was able to get it for half price.

We also have a couple of bags of items to be donated to a local thrift store. I'll try to talk DH into taking those over to the thrift store one day this week. We try to donate things three or four times a year. It helps us get rid of things and take a tax credit and I'm sure many people can benefit from the items we donate.

How To - Ham Fried Rice

Ham Fried Rice

2 cups chopped ham
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup sliced carrots
1/2 cup chopped onions
2 cups cooked rice
Frozen sugar snap peas
Soy Sauce
Barbecue Sauce

Heat ham in small skillet. Squirt just enough BBQ sauce on ham to lightly coat. Stir well. Put skillet in hot oven while rice is prepared.

Saute carrots and onions with oil in wok over high heat. Stir frequently until lightly browned and tender. Turn down heat to low. Add cooked rice and enough soy sauce to turn all rice light tan. Stir well. Heat peas in microwave to thaw. Add peas and ham to rice. Stir again.

Enjoy with egg rolls.


This is an excellent way to use leftover holiday ham. DH enjoyed this tonight.

Menu Monday (last edition for the year)

Saturday - Leftovers - ham, mac and cheese, sweet potatoes, green beans
Sunday - Chili with cornbread
Monday - Ham Fried Rice and Egg Rolls
Tuesday - Chili over Baked Potatoes
Wednesday - TBD
Thursday - TBD
Friday - Blackeyed Peas and (you guessed it) Ham

I will be using the ham bone for seasoning in the beans. I will placing some of the ham into the freezer for future meals.

Creative doings..

The little girls got Leapfrog Tags and books for Christmas. They sell little cases for these at the store, but who wants to pay for that, right?

I picked up a half a yard of ticking at Joann's Saturday - both blue and red. I measured the "pens" and the books and started devising a plan. I sewed a simple gusseted bag just big enough to fit several books vertically or horizontally. They I created a horizontal pocket inside the bag and slightly gathered it to allow for the girth of the pen. Two little Velcro squares allow the pen to be secured inside. To finish the bag off, I sewed on a generous strip of Velcro to hold the books in and gave it a 18" strap. The strap is long enough to simply go over the shoulder or it can go over the head - messenger style.

They love it. They were able to put their little laptops into the bags, too. All safe and sound for the trip home. I hope that by having a bag to hold all the parts, they'll always know where it it and which one is theirs..

Total cost was about $7 for both plus thread and Velcro I already had on hand. Probably less than one of the store bought ones.

Final (?) grocery trip this year.....

The week between Christmas and New Years' Day is always filled with ham, lots of ham. We had ham sandwiches on Christmas eve, ham for dinner on Christmas, ham again on Saturday evening. Tonight, we had to have a break and cooked a pot of chili. Mmmm, it was good. I noticed in the Pioneer Woman's cookbook (Christmas gift) that she uses masa to thicken her chili. I didn't have any masa, but I did have a bag of corn meal. I stirred in two spoons of cornmeal shortly before serving because my chili didn't have the thickness I desired. What an improvement. I think I'll add that to my recipe from now on.

I went over to Publix today mainly to get the items needed for tonight's chili and some things for lunch this week. I also picked up a Boston Butt since they were on sale for only $1.19 a pound. That's a bargain. I spent just about $50 and only saved $9 and change. No coupons. Disgraceful. Between now and Thursday, I will pull all my 12/31/09 coupons. If anything jumps out at me, I may make another trip down to the P.

Christmas Eve eve

Here we are the day before Christmas eve...

The shopping is done.
I have just a couple of gifts to wrap.
The groceries are bought.
The cookie dough is chilling.
A Christmas Carol is on television.
Coffee is brewing.

All is well.

Tomorrow, there will be baking and singing. Giggling and eating. Smiles. Joy.

I hope everyone has a very, very Merry Christmas.

Tuesday Surprise

I was doing some blog surfing tonight. I noticed on one blog (I think it was Southern Savers) that Publix's special this week was a $5 off $50 coupon. The blog stated that the coupon was only good Sunday and Monday (like the penny item) but I decided to pull out my Sunday paper and take a look.

Here in the Atlanta paper, the coupon was on the back side of the Publix weekly sale flyer and (shouting), it's good all week. I'll be heading to the P tomorrow to pick up some last minute items and some more of the bogof items - especially the Barber Chicken. I found some additional coupons after my weekly trip Saturday. (Can't let those get away. We enjoy those during the cold months. They're quick, easy and tasty. DH can even get those going if I'm running late from work.)

Menu Monday (late breaking holiday edition)

Monday - BBQ Pork Chops and Yellow Rice
Tuesday - Chef Salad and Baked Potato
Wednesday - Stuffed Chicken and Scalloped Potatoes
Thursday - Christmas Eve Buffet
Friday - Christmas Dinner
Saturday and Sunday TBD

Christmas Eve Buffet - Traditionally we snack.
Potato Soup
Mini Ham Sandwiches
Chips and Dip
Cocktail Meatballs
Cookies and Fudge

Christmas Dinner
Baked Ham
Homemade Baked Mac and Cheese
Sweet Potato Casserole
Fresh Green Beans
Mystery Veggie
Sister Schubert Rolls
Pumpkin Pie

Accomplishments....

Wow. I got a lot done tonight.

Cookies

I finished baking the gingerbread cookies that I started yesterday. The dough was just too sticky to roll and needed some extended chilling. It rolled much better tonight. I'm taking most of them with me to work tomorrow.

I want to make a couple of other kinds of cookies as well this week. The kids' favorites are traditional Spritz cookies made with a Super Shooter. I'm on my second Super Shooter - an electric cookie press. They particularly like the green tree shapes and the red hearts. DH and I prefer the cream colored flowers with candied cherries in the middle.

Cookbook

I also finished my first edition of my cookbook. It doesn't have all the recipes that I wanted to include but I needed to have a stopping point in order to get copies made and assembled for Christmas gifts. It will be a work in progress as I add recipes and make photographs of the preparation and finished dishes.

I also want to include a narrative portion of the cookbook to "explain" cooking to the inexperienced cook. (Sometimes, the simplest foods need explanation if you've never made them before.)

Shopping and Gifts

I'm all done except for assembling the cookbooks and getting a "surprise" for DH. I need to put on my "thinking cap" and get this done Wednesday.

Publix Trip

I took my weekly grocery shopping trip to Publix Saturday. There were a couple of great bargains including some free Phazyme and some CoverGirl eye shadow. All in all, I picked up an assortment of deli meat, lots of fresh veggies, milk, soft drinks, and potatoes, ice cream, etc.

After four 12 packs of soda, three five pound bags of potatoes (at only $1.99 for Yukon Golds), my buggy was pretty full. I proceeded to the checkout and merrily we rang up the purchases. Before coupons - but after sales prices - my OOP was ringing up as $130. The guy behind me wanted me to start shopping for him after my coupons were deducted. My new OOP was only $105. (With that $70 savings.)

I'm going to send DH over to Trader Joe's to pick up some meatballs ..

Dinner and a Movie

I had the day off today. Hubby had an interview.

For dinner we decided to "splurge." We stopped at Walmart and picked up a redbox movie and then a Domino's Hot to Go pizza. Total OOP was $6.35.

Add a couple of hot, homemade cookies.

Mmmm.

Rubber Duckie, you're the one....

My daughter's co-workers are throwing her a baby shower tomorrow. I baked up some cookies to help celebrate.

I've made the onsies before but this time, the blue is just a little deeper and there's no writing on them. I changed up the second design to have duckies instead of teddy bears. The duck is much faster and requires less detail work.

The blue from the onsies was a perfect color for the duck's eyes. Too cute.

It does seem to take me a long time to bring this all together. It took two hours to decorate 25 cookies. I can decorate a whole cake in about an hour. Why does this take so much longer?

Menu Monday

We're implementing another freezer/pantry challenge for the week to keep our grocery purchases at $50. I was going to purchase a beef brisket but I found that even at the sale price of $3.99 per pound, the net price was too high for the amount of meat and the effort.

Saturday - left over Roast Beef served with Mashed Potatoes
Sunday - BBQ Chicken (freezer) and Baked Mac and Cheese (pantry)
Monday - Ham Steak and side (purchased last week)
Tuesday - Potato Soup and BLTs
Wednesday - Voila meal (freezer)
Thursday - Spaghetti with Italian Sausage and Peppers
Friday - TBD

Change is NOT always good....

No, I'm not talking about THAT kind of change.

I'm talking about my Publix. They "reset" the store Wednesday night. Agggr!

They've definitely gone with an upscale look. New design and paint throughout the store. My biggest complaint is the middle of the store. They've rearranged the organization of products. I used to be able to tell you exactly where everything was. That was particularly helpful if you needed to run in and pick up something quickly or send someone to the store for you.

I didn't find any really great bargains today either. I'm hopeful that it's because of the holiday season and the really good deals will be back after the first of the year. I spent $54 dollars today and saved $49. Not great but not too bad either. I picked up some free Revlon beauty tools and some nail polish thanks to some great Publix coupons and some MF Qs. They also have some good Cover Girl Publix coupons so I may go back for some stocking stuffers for my big girls.

We're primarily eating out of our pantry/freezer again this week so I didn't pick up any meat except for some deli meat for lunch. I did stock up on some brown sugar and confectioners sugar. The one pound box of Domino's sugar was on sale for .99 less a .50 MQ on 2 so I paid only .50 a box.

Pinching Pennies - Big Benefits

We're constantly looking for ways to cut our expenses. A buck here or there will eventually make a difference.

For example, DH noticed that Kohl's sent us a coupon for $10 off any purchase $10 or more. He patiently waited for the appropriate date and today took off for Kohl's - coupon in hand. (Now, mind you that in the last year he has become very conscience of how coupons save us money.) He returned with a new pair of gloves (already at 40% off) and a second item (already at 50%). He left the store spending less than $10 by buying sale items and using the free money. Value of $34, OOP was $9. He says, "That's like the kind of things you do." (Oh, Yeah!)

We also cut our expenses by switching our garbage service. We had negotiated a price of $48/quarter but the price had recently increased to $51. A competitor was offering a one year guaranteed rate of $36 per quarter with a free month. After giving our original provider an opportunity to match the price (which they said they couldn't do), we switched. Over a year's period of time, we'll save over $70. Same level of service. Nice.

We're also saving money this holiday season by not buying new decorations. Honestly, we had enough decorations (after some repairs) and new items were simply not necessary. We also have an artificial tree and that probably saves us $50-75 or more every year. An added benefit is that it can go up early and stay up longer. You don't have to water it, and rarely do the needles fall off. Our only decorating expense was for a few craft ornaments (60% off) and the electricity to run the lights.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

2-3 boneless, skinless Chicken Breasts
Small can of chunk pineapple in juice
1/2 cup prepared Sweet and Sour Sauce
1/8 cup soy sauce
1/8 cup white vinegar
Ground Ginger
Garlic Powder
3 Tablespoons Corn Starch
1/2 each Red and Green Bell Pepper
1/4 onion, cut in large pieces

Slice Chicken in bite size pieces, sprinkle with ginger and garlic. Add 2 Tablespoons of Corn Starch and stir to coat.

Mix together 1/2 cup of prepared Sweet and Sour Sauce, juice from pineapple, soy sauce, vinegar and 1/2 cup water. Add a sprinkle of garlic and ginger, and a pinch of red pepper flakes (optional). Add 1 Tablespoon Corn Starch, stir and set aside.

Saute peppers and onions in skillet. When slightly soft, remove from pan. Add a small amount of vegetable oil and add chicken. Cook over medium to high heat until completely done and golden brown. Add vegetables and sauce. Stir while cooking until mixture thickens. Serve over white rice.

Menu Monday

Saturday - Big Pot of Chili
Sunday - (Stickless) K-bobs with rice and roasted vegetables
Monday - Chili over Elbows
Tuesday - Stuffed Potatoes (Broccoli)
Wednesday - Sweet and Sour Chicken
Thursday - Crockpot Roast with Potatoes, Carrots and Onions
Friday - TBD

Publix deals last week and this week....

When I shopped at Publix last Sunday, I purchased only some necessities and didn't use the first coupon - no deals. Fortunately, I only spent about $40. I stopped by Publix again this evening to get some Crisco EVOO (I think this is the best! and a good deal, down from $6.50 each to only $2.50 after coupon and sale) and a bag of free Alexia snacks. OK, so I did use four coupons total for the week.

I looked at the sales beginning tomorrow and, sadly, no great deals appeal to me. I think we'll stick to the necessities again. I may check the ads for Kroger just to see what's going on across the street.