Thursday Feb.11 LET'S GET READY TO.............SNOW!!!!

Are you ready? I got to thinking about this, I know back in '93, they "predicted" that we MIGHT have snow......For those that don't remember, WE HAD SNOW!!! Our power went out, the water went out, (the power was out about 6 days, the water almost 2 WEEKS, I DO REMEMBER THIS, Brian was a toddler and Carol Beth was only 4 months old!
It will not get that bad this time (I hope), but I am going to take today to get a few thing ready just in case the power or water do go out.....We keep the 2.5 gallon water containers in our pantry for emergencies (I have 4 of these), but did you know you are supposed to have 1 gallon per person for 3 days! For our house that would be 15 gallons! Now I'm not going to RUN to the store and buy more, I have 10 gallons and if we see that it is going to get BAD, I might catch up some in my stockpots. Hayneville Water had a problem last time with the pump freezing, of course that was 17 years ago....but you know, THE LORD OVER ALL IS IN CHARGE!!I remember the verse: We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials,for we know that they are good for us-they help us learn to endure. Romans 5:3 I have learned from '93 how to hopefully endure whatever is going to come out of this. I am praying that it is just going to be "FUN SNOW"! We have already told ours "Yes, you will have school, Becca made the comment that schools will probably be closed.....I informed her that it would be due to ROAD CONDITIONS...I don't think she will have ICY CONDITIONS from her bedroom to our classroom table!
Back to prep stuff (don't ya'll love how I get side tracked!)
I have gotten up my HAND can opener (Carol Beth questioned what this was!!!!)
Candles, matches, Bo got up some more firewood, WE HAVE A TON OF CAN GOODS...If the power does go out my only concern was the freezers (we don't have a generator),but that is the COOL thing about a SNOW/ICE power outage.....IT WILL BE FREEZING OUTSIDE!!! (Not like after Ivan (we lost everything in our freezers then, the Lord blessed us though, we were down to the last of a steer, so we didn't lose much.)So if the power does go out, and is out for an EXTENDED period of time, we will "CHUNK THE STUFF IN THE YARD", ok not quite, we will put it in coolers, rubbermaid tubs whatever we can find and "chunk it in the yard"!
But again we are thinking it will not get like that, BUT we will be prepared if it does! So this is how we are spending our Thursday ( I figure it is a good time also to talk to the kids about emergency preparedness!) Your GET 10 GET READY thingy....
http://www.redcross.org/portal/site/en/menuitem.86f46a12f382290517a8f210b80f78a0/?vgnextoid=92d51a53f1c37110VgnVCM1000003481a10aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default
down at the bottom is a pdf file for WINTER PREPARE!I will not worry about EVERYTHING ON THIS LIST.....Don't run out and go buy a bunch of stuff......
I will make sure we have a way to stay warm (get up extra blankets, firewood)
Water, and food ready, and flashlights, candles....and things to do....Hey this is where those cool card games from Target will come in HANDY!
We also got to talking about cooking up some extra meat, we have an electric stove...so if the power does go out...the fireplace will be our only choice to HEAT/COOK food....I don't want to solely eat can goods! During Ivan we were able to cook outside, it was like camping, we used the grill, we made a fire ring with a grill plate over it (I cooked all our meals that way, the kids remember it being FUN,) Becca and I even heated water for every ones baths and washed clothes outside! Some people from our old church had come to check on us.....found us out in the yard around that fire, washing clothes....and made the comment we looked liked we lived in a third world country......but that Sunday at church.....everyone made the comment we were the only "CLEAN" ones there! They wanted to know how we had power and water to BATHE and WASH!
We are also going to the nursing home to take Valentine's and the library....
So it is going to be a full day!
UPDATE: WE will not be going ANYWHERE, Bo parked down here at the house....BIG NONO right now,His truck got stuck....The tractor will not crank...so he took my van...
I am looking at this as the Lord's way of letting me "take this time", we had a dentist appt. scheduled for today (they called and canceled yesterday, see the Lord was gracious in this! We didn't have to worry about making that appt.) and it didn't happen yesterday (They had their Homeschool Valentine Party at the church, THANK YOU LETHA WE HAD SO MUCH FUN) so....we are going with the flow, I am anticipating what the Lord has in store for us!! It has worked out that we HAVE to stay home today! So, I will embrace this to the fullest! We will work on our SNOW PREP, get laundry done and just relish this "STAY HOME TIME" AND DO SCHOOLWORK!
Carol Beth is UPSET to say the least about the library...
and her art class has been canceled for tomorrow......but I will FIND her something to do! (THERE is that pile of clothes that needs washing......no, I wouldn't do that..) She can make snowflakes, and help me in the kitchen.


Happy Saving
Stacey

Wonderful Wed!

O.k., today is SUPPOSED to be SUNNY??? I don't know about ya'll but I'm TIRED of rain! Bo always said he would one day take me on a cruise....I didn't know it would be our doublewide going down the driveway! We have had to park our cars at the top of the hill AND WALK TO THE HOUSE! Needless to say I now have a "shoe store" in my van!
On the menu for today!
Breakfast: oatmeal (these fruit and cream flavors are FABULOUS!)
Lunch: Welcome Back Wed. (leftovers!0
Supper: I guess you could say this is our Mardi Gras meal?sausage (hillshire farm when they were REALLY cheap), redbeans and rice (knorr rice side packet, it will take 2),cornbread muffins (homemade),Toll House cookies for dessert (these were FREE a while back, I'm tied of looking at cookie dough in my frig!)
Check the Southern Savers site for the new list!
Oh, also I want to say "HEY" to the FANTASTIC cashier I had at Target yesterday! I gave her my card with my blog address, she seemed really interested in coupons, and was SUPER SWEET!
We played the Monopoly card game last night (THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN!) Brian and Becca also played the Sorry card game yesterday afternoon, they said it was alot of fun(they are my GUINEA PIGS)these were the two we did not have, so the other 2 will be put in the gift box.

Buy 2 Gillette Fusion Razors and/or Venus Embrace Razors for $6.99 each=$5 Target gift card
Deal Scenario 1:
Buy 2 Gillette Fusion Razors $6.99 each=$13.98
Use 2 $4/1 coupons from the 2/7 PG


OR:
Buy 2 Venus Embrace Razor $6.99 each=$13.98
Buy 2 Olay Body Wash for $5.49 each = $10.98
Total=$24.96
Use 2 $2/1 Venus coupons from the 2/7PG
Use two buy Venus, get Olay Body Wash FREE coupons from the 2/7PG (will deduct $10.98)
Ok. This DOES work!
I bought 2 Venus Razors $6.99 each
Used 2$2.00/1 coupons
Got 2 OLAY RIBBONS BODY WASH 5.49 each!
Uesd 2 Bo Venus Razors get Olay Body Wash FREE
TOTAL $11.68 WITH TAX
Gave me a $5.00 Gift Card!!!


Then I got 4 Gilltte Fusion Razors
$13.98 for 2
$13.98 for 2
used 4 $4.00 off coupons
and $5.00 Gift CARD
paid $8.49
IT GAVE ME 2 $5.00 GIFT CARDS WOW!!!


I took those and did the card game deal!
1 Monopoly $5.24
1 Scrabble $5.24
1 Sorry $6.99
1 Pictureka $5.24 USED $18.00 Worth of COUPONS
Dove Men Body Wash Gift PACKS
$3.99 - $1.00 Target -$1.00 Man.=$1.99 Got 2 used 2 store coupons 2 man coupons
Satin Care Travel Size shaving cream .99- .55 coupon= .44 (got 4)
Total WITH TAX $13.67
USED $10.00 GIFT CARDS
PAID $3.67!!!!



So $23.84 total for all 3 transcations for $118.16 RETAIL I am still trying to figure this one out, I don't think I spent that much, I gave her a $20.00 for my first transaction.....and I still have $1.48 cents left???????
I guess there goes our budget! But these are COOL RAZORS!!!
Just showing you how to WORK the deal!PLUS FREE BODY WASH!!!!
COME'ON! Ya'll try to help me rationalize this!!!
It was worth it, It was worth it, It was worth it........
Happy Saving
Stacey

Menu For Tue. Feb. 9

O.K. so we are still using out of our pantry stockpile! It doesn't even look like we have made a dent,(except for YOGURT! what are they doing with all of it?! I'm GLAD it's not the DIGESTIVE HEALTH kind! Whew, that would be BAD!)
For today's menu (I sound like a FANCY resturant)
Breakfast: bagels cream cheese (bagels were .07 bag/FREE cream cheese!)
Lunch: popcorn chicken, frozen veggies (I am out of salad! This is on my list for this coming time)
Supper: TATER TOT CASSEROLE! we LOVE THIS and the Cascadian Farm SPUD PUPPIES (tater tots)worked out after coupons and sale .34 cents a bag! It will probably take 2 bags (I make a BIG pan), crescent rolls, peas from garden (or something frozen)
TATER TOT CASSEROLE (I figured it up $1.22 FOR 5 PEOPLE!!, the crescents (.33 can),peas or frozen something (no more than .20) SO TOTAL FOR SUPPER $1.75 FOR 5! I have noticed Walmart had an ad showing how to make a meal for around $2.00 PER PERSON!!! We are at .35 CENTS PER PERSON! WOW!
1 lb ground beef cooked, seasoned, drained (From "supper" our steer)
1 2lb bags tater tots (.34 @bag)
1 cans cream of mushroom (.27 Target sale around Thanksgiving)
1 cans evaporated milk (FREE)
1 cans cream of chicken (.27 Target sale around Thanksgiving)
Brown meat & place in large cass. dish.
Cover with tater tots. Mix soup & milk together.
Pour over top. Bake at 350 for 1 Hour.
Makes 1 -9”X13” pan

Get your coupons ready!

O.K., I saw a sneak peek of the Publix ad for this coming week!! Whew, I thought last week was long.....get those scissors flying ladies!
For those of you who have not read our BUDGET post from Jan., we are on a $40.00 FOR THE MONTH mission! This is for food, health and beauty items, paper goods, pet food....
We have $26.04 left. I am TOOOOOO EXCITED about LIPTON TEA BAGS going BOGO this coming week! We PLOW through tea, and the last time it was on sale was the end of October,first of November....I bought 12 boxes....we are down to 2! I did do the tea bag deal at Winn Dixie the other week (.14 cents a box after coupons) but they only have 24 Family size tea bags......So LIPTON (our favorite anyway) here I come!


ALSO did you look in the USA WEEKEND paper this weekend? There were some coupons in there! For HASBRO games and here are some print ables find the CARD GAMES!! THE COUPONS don't exclude them!THESE ARE TARGET PRICES, but you might want to check Walmart.
Scrabble Slam Card $5.24 (Brian bought this at Christmas for a family gift, it is SO much FUN! Really fast to play, they will play this while I'm finishing up supper,they were playing it one day when the telephone co. was out here doing some work, they were laughing and having so much fun, one of the workers asked"What is the name of that game you are playing, it looks like fun!"
Use the $4/1 coupon from here (it also has the other coupons!!)
http://print.coupons.com/couponweb/Offers.aspx?pid=14602&zid=yf73&nid=10&bid=alk0209040226256b312129512
Final cost $1.24!

Pictureka Card Game $5.24(we got this at Christmas, fun! Carol Beth LOVES THIS)
Use the $5/1 coupon
Final cost $0.24!

Monopoly Card Game $5.24
Use the $4/1 coupon
Final cost $1.24!

Monopoly Get Out of Jail Mini game $7.99
Use the $4/1 coupon
Final cost $3.99!

Scrabble Diamond Edition $29
Use the $10/1 coupon
Final cost $19!
thanks http://hip2save.com/2010/02/target-deals-27-213.html
The card games would make Great stocking stuffers (YES I mean for Christmas! Put them in the closet, just don't forget you have them!) Or Birthday gifts, I even did the Scrabble Slam game in a get well basket for a neighbor! (kleenex, coughdrops, tylenol.....)
And has anyone heard about Target cellphone coupons???
http://sites.target.com/site/en/spot/page.jsp
Happy Saving
Stacey

Menu for Monday

Ok I need to "catch" you up on the weekend menu.
Sat. Breakfast, everybody kinda did their own thing (granola bars, yogurt,cereal..)
Lunch sandwiches, Supper Spaghetti and Meatballs (this was one of our TGI friday choices from the other week, and I have Ragu coming out my ears! and always FREE or cheap pasta)

Sun.
Breakfast (Usually no one eats breakfast on Sun.....maybe this is why our stomachs are growling during the service!!!)
Lunch Leftover Spaghetti and meatballs (we were going to stay for the Chili Cook Off at church, but I wanted to come home and check on Bo, that and I didn't want us to be spreading any more germs than we had to......YEAH for hand sanitizer from Bath and Body (these SMELL SO GOOD)
Supper (we were going to do "FOOTBALL" food, chips, FREE DIP, sandwiches.....)
Then we were watching MAN vsFOOD.(He had to eat a 48 oz. steak in 20 min...)
This made us want steak, how come when you see "cooking" or "eating" shows, you want
what they have! We all wanted steak!!
We have "SUPPER"(the kid's steer we had done)in the big chest freezer....
Brian volunteered to grill, we had steak and potatoes!!! ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS!!! Thank you BRIAN!

Monday
Breakfast: cereal
Lunch: sandwiches(I should have the bread coming out of the oven about this time!!)
Supper: Pork Chops (from the other week when Winn Dixie had them BOGO)
rice and green beans, and some of my bread

Whew, It's Monday! HOME DAY!

Ok. I don't know about ya'll, but I LIKE Mondays!!! I know weird huh? But everybody gets back into routine after the weekend, Bo goes to work, the kids have schoolwork to do....this is our "catchup,take it slow day". I usually set this day aside to get the house back in order, laundry, and any baking I need to do. We make our own bread (NO I DON'T GRIND OUR OWN WHEAT,,,and it is not a Little House on the Praire moment, I use my KitchenAid mixer to KNEAD the dough) It is really easy (makes 2 loaves, I do 2 batches so 4 loaves total, this last us all week. It works out to .25cents a loaf, and WE LOVE this bread, the kids complained one time, Publix had bread on sale I grabbed some thinking it would give me a break.....They all wanted to know when I was going to make bread again! They liked mine better!It takes a total of 2hours (but that is RISING and BAKING TIME) It really only takes about 10 min. to make it up, then rise 1 hour...place in loaf pans rise 30 min....bake 30 min....while it is rising and baking, I do laundry, teach school, clean.....
AMISH WHITE BREAD
Ingredients
2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2/3 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
6 cups bread flour
Directions
In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam.(about 10 min.)
Mix salt and oil into the yeast.(This is where I put it in my mixing bowl and "blend" in the flour using the DOUGH ATTACHMET) Mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth.(If you use mixer, mix for 5 min. YOU DON"T HAVE TO KNEAD ON THE FLOURED SURFACE IF YOU USE THE MIXER!!!!) Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half. Shape into loaves, and place into two well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.

I make up 1 batch and then when I set it aside to rise I go ahead and make up another batch. I figure I already have all the stuff out, I am going to have to wash these dishes anyway.....This gives us 4 loaves for the week.It FREEZES REALLY WELL, I just wrap in platic wrap, and then in foil. Take out of freezer the night before you need it. We leave out 1 loaf freeze 3 then take out another when we are getting low....sometimes 4 loaves actually last us 2 weeks, it depends on how much we use.
It makes GREAT sandwich bread, also put butter on it and toast it for dinner, or the kids just like it sliced with butter on it without being toasted.
These are some of the ingredients we still get at SAM'S Club.....it is SO much cheaper for this type thing.
Yeast Those little packet thingys are EXPENSIVE!!!
http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=195374
This is $4.24 for 2 16 oz. blocks, this last us about 9 months!!! When you open one block, put it in a ziploc and place in FRIG. the other unopened one we just keep in our pantry.
BREAD FLOUR
http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?&dest=5&item=195693&cid=SearchResult%7C93942%7CBakers+%26+Chefs%C2%AE+Bread+Flour+-+25+lb.+bag
This last us about 6 months, I keep it in a big rubbermaid tub, at the bottom of our prep island.
The rest of the stuff we already have on hand, if I can't get a "DEAL" on oil (WE ONLY USE CANOLA OIL,,,,EVEN IN THIS RECIPE)
http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=276440
I will pick it up at Sam's also...this is all we really get at Sam's anymore...and we only have to go about every 6 months!