Couponing to OUR extreme

When I began staying home with Hailey last summer I began to really understand the value of the dollar.  So I began researching ways to cut costs, we lowered our satellite bill, eliminated our house phone, signed a two year contract with our Internet company and purchased our own cable modem which dropped the monthly payment by $10 a month. Then I began researching how to drop our monthly grocery and "other" bill at Wal-Mart. My good friend from high school taught me how to optimize my coupons with the current sales. Then my mother-in-law told me about The Krazy Coupon Lady. That is when the obsession began. I learned how to make my dollar stretch by using her website to save me time. She matches the deals at the local four stores (Wal-Mart, Safeway, Albertson's, and Rite Aid) with currently active coupons, both from the Internet and Sunday newspapers. I was inspired, to say the least. 

So now, as I sit making my grocery list for tomorrow morning, I thought, maybe I should share what I do to save us so much money.  I hear all the time about how stores don't double coupons and it is not possible to save the kind of money that people on the Extreme Couponing show do. That is not true! Last week I shopped at Wal-Mart and Albertson's only and neither store did coupon doubling that week.  I still had a great haul for only $8. 

What do I suggest? Visit http://thekrazycouponlady.com/beginners/ and learn all about how to become a Krazy Coupon Lady. We are so involved that Hailey likes to play with my expired coupons before I mail them to the troops overseas and pay for her pretend groceries with them.  Good girl! She is learning so much so young, and I am happy to show her. What a valuable lesson I can pass on to my child! 

Get yourself several copies of the Sunday paper every Sunday from here on out (excluding holidays, there are no coupons on holidays), buy a 2 or 3 inch binder, and a large selection of baseball card holders, maybe even a portable file holder, and start saving money!  It's a little bit of work, but you will save a LOT of money!  Happy couponing!!! =)

Who Will Outlast the Others?

My mother-in-law made the following comment to me 4 years ago: "If I could have vaporized any of my children when they were growing up, it would have been Trevor" while it made me laugh, I never FULLY grasped the severity of that comment until this evening. As my strong willed, or "free spirited" if you will, child is battling out going to bed with her even stronger willed father. I listen to Trevor's footsteps out of Brooklyn's room, just enough so she cannot see him, but he can peek at her, then quickly back in to lay her down. And hear her stand up in her crib as soon as he lays her down. The strong silence from Trevor and the slight giggle as he walks out, knowing that she is EXACTLY his mini-me. And the uncontrollable whine from Brooklyn as she is clearly not getting what she wants out of this evening.  I can't help but laugh, and find it only just that he be the one to break her will, without breaking her spirit.

Brooklyn is just like her daddy, in fact this is evident not only in her spirit but also in her physical appearance. Sure Trevor is a well adjusted adult-- responsible, caring, God fearing, among plenty of other things now, but as a child..... I understand he would cry until he passed out. Hmmmm, I can see that happening to Brooke sometime in the future. She cries without ceasing sometimes, even after all the basic needs have been met and she's been cuddled and loved on. Even sometimes while she appears to be asleep.  What does a 9 month old have to be so upset about? What can be so upsetting that snuggling up with mom or dad can't even fix? Back taxes? Unpaid parking tickets? Maybe she's behind on her mortgage...

Who knows. All I know is it's nearing 10PM and once again, for the 3rd night in a row, Brooke has got her cry on. Coincidentally her late nights ALWAYS coincide with an early morning event the next day.

I hope you are all out doing something exciting or getting ready to get some sleep.... let us know what it's like! :)  Have a quiet and peaceful night..... in honor of our household. LOL!

Chocolate Banana Muffins.... YUM!!!

Well, I was searching for a delicious, yet healthy, bran muffin to make for our family breakfasts during the week. Or possibly a healthy homemade loaf of bread. Unfortunately, my favorite recipe blog (Won in the Oven) listed the Chocolate Banana Muffin before any of the healthy breads I was looking for.... soooooooooooo.... Chocolate Banana Muffins win. Maybe next time we'll go healthy. Tomorrow morning we will be making a yummy batch. Crystal has been singing the praises of these muffins for weeks and I have yet to try them out. Here's the recipe for anyone who would like to duplicate them.

Chocolate Banana Muffinsslightly adapted from Handle the Heat

• 3 large bananas
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup white whole-wheat flour (or whole wheat pastry flour or whole wheat flour)
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

*Recipe Note* She used half whole wheat and half white flour. I just used all (1 cup) of white whole wheat flour and the results where great.

This post is linked up with Sweet as Sugar Cookies

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and position a rack in the center. Line a muffin tin with baking cups and set it aside.

In a large bowl mash the bananas with a fork or potato masher then mix in the sugar, egg and applesauce. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and baking powder over the banana mixture. Mix lightly with a rubber spatula to combine. Fold in chocolate chips. The batter should be just moistened but still a little clumpy. Don't over mix!

Using a spring-loaded ice cream scoop or spoons, divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups and bake them for about 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Transfer them to a rack to cool. Store muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Best Bread Machine Bread Recipe

We bought a used bread machine at a yard sale this weekend and were just dying to try it out. Saturday morning, after breakfast, Hailey and Trevor tried it out. We happened upon an extremely easy recipe and bread turned out fantastic!

Best Bread Machine Bread
Prep time 10 minutes
Cook time - 40 minutes
Ready in - 3 hours
Serves - 12
Yields - 1 to 1 1/2 pound loaf


Ingredients

• 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 (.25 ounce) package bread machine yeast
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3 cups bread flour
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Place the water, sugar and yeast in the pan of the bread machine. Let the yeast dissolve and foam for 10 minutes. Add the oil, flour and salt to the yeast. Select Basic or White Bread setting, and press Start.               

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 174 | Total Fat: 5.2g | Cholesterol: 0mg

allrecipes.com

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/best-bread-machine-bread/detail.aspx