Monthly Archives: April 2008

Apr 20

Friday’s Cookies

I was back in the kitchen baking away on Friday, and I was in the mood for a Chocolate Cookie, a cookie from my distant past. A very very very long time ago I was a frequent visitor of a little place called the Blue Ribbon Bakery, and they had an amazing Chocolate Cookie. It was a sugary/brownie/covered in crackled powdered sugar super delicious big chocolate cookie. I haven’t had one since I was about 10 years old or so, and I was hoping to find a way to recreate this beloved childhood treat…

I searched for a recipe and I found one in my trusty Betty Crocker cookbook, but no picture. I hoped for the best, and attempted to bake Chocolate Crinkle Cookies 🙂

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The hardest part about baking this cookie is that you have to wait 3 hours for the dough to set. So I started early in the morning let the dough set the mandatory 3 hours, and baked all afternoon. The first batch that I made was a little too big. By the third batch I had the hang of it. A helpful tip is to keep this dough nice and cold, the cookies roll out much better then. The cookies were delicious 🙂 and I think that they were pretty close to my childhood favorites too.

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Thade was also a big fan of the Chocolate Crinkle Cookies, he is usually pretty picky even when it is a cookie, but who could resist the Chocolaty Goodness 😉

Apr 20

Oh My Aching Noggin

I had a feeling that today was going to be one of those days. We needed to be up early this morning for Thade’s final Soccer Game, and Thade woke up last night at 3:00 a.m. He had a case of the sneezes, and Dylan woke up screaming too. I finally got both of the kiddos back to sleep around 4:30 a.m., I needed to be up around 7:00 a.m. I heard my hubby’s alarm clock ring two or three times and I finally drug myself out of bed at 8:00 a.m.

I awoke to a horrible migraine, and a nasty case of nausea. My head is still stinging at this very moment.  I took some migraine medicine first thing, and I grabbed a quick shower. We made it to the game in plenty of time, but the wind and cooler temps were horrible on my noggin.

I’m so ready to call it a night, and hopefully grab a little bit of sleep 😉

Apr 18

The Perfect Breakfast

My Mom and I were on the phone yesterday (a.m.) and we got on the subject of breakfast. I usually skip breakfast, and go for a cup or two of coffee, and she makes a big bowl of yummy& healthy good for her Oatmeal. I have a lot of food allergies, so many of the grab and go breakfast items like wraps, and Egg McMuffins, I have to pass on. I’m allergic to eggs and milk, so that leaves me pretty much with Toast and Coffee for a speedy breakfast.

We used to live in a lovely city that had a Waffle House, and on their menu is one of my dream breakfasts. One Cheese Omelet with Cinnamon Raisin Toast, and of course you can add in a Ice Cold Coke if that’s what you’re into 😉 I gave in once, and was really really really sick. I’m also a fan of Scrambled Eggs, and I make some pretty mean ones. I gave in once into my temptation for Scrambled Eggs, while I was pregnant with Thade, and I was really really really sick. I haven’t eaten an egg since…

Later that morning my hubby called and said that he would bring home Breakfast, so I ordered one of my favorites 🙂

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Sausage Roll, Glazed Donut, complete with an Ice Cold Coke 🙂

I didn’t say that it was the healthiest of breakfasts, but it is probably my favorite one.  YUM 🙂

What about you… Do you have a favorite breakfast or a great recipe to share? Or are you like me, coffee only please 😉

Apr 17

Nico in the Pursuit of Savings, All Shopped Out

Thanks again to everyone for reading along with me on my savings adventure. It has been an interesting journey, that has taught me a lot about shopping and saving locally. I was really surprised to see how much prices can vary from store to store, even if I didn’t have to drive that far.

Just for fun, I made a chart of my fifteen items and all of the places that I shopped. You can really see the price difference when you view them side by side.

Items

Wal-Mart

Walgreens

Dollar General

IGA

Woods

 
Cat Food

$3.84

$4.49

$2.25

$1.79

$1.99
Kitty Litter

$1.68

$2.29

$1.00

$2.99

$1.79
Kleenexes

$1.24

$1.00

$1.00

$1.25

$1.00
Toilet Paper

$1.32

$1.00

$1.10

$1.65

$1.00
Diapers

$10.67

$9.00

$8.00

$10.89

$9.97
Baby Food 2pk

$0.98

$1.39

$0.00

$1.19

$0.99
Baby Food Jar

$0.72

$0.89

$0.00

$0.85

$0.75
Gerber Puffs

$1.92

$2.49

$0.00

$2.29

$2.09
Saltines

$0.96

$2.00

$0.85

$1.35

$0.99
Coca-Cola

$3.98

$3.00

$1.99 (6ct)

$3.50

$3.33
Bread

$0.96

$2.19

$2.40

$1.09

$1.00
Eggs

$1.70

$1.50

$2.25

$1.50

$1.50
Milk 1 Gallon

$3.40

$3.49

$3.90

$3.19

$3.69
Flour 5lbs

$1.58

$2.99

$1.25

$1.79

$1.99
Sugar 4 lbs

$1.98

$2.79

$1.65

$1.69

$1.69
 

 

 

 

 

 
TOTAL

$36.93

$40.51

$27.64

$37.01

$33.77

I was surprised to see Walgreens on the high side of the prices and Wood’s on the low end, although the week that I shopped at Wood’s, many of the Baby Items were on sale.

Wal-Mart still seems to be the best bet for One Stop shopping, and with my two busy boys in the cart that is usually what I have to do. Walgreens is still one of my favorite places to shop, their pharmacy is great, and overall they had the best Customer Service. Dollar General is the best place to shop locally for Baking Supplies, and Cat Litter, they also had great Customer Service too. Wood’s and IGA both run fantastic sales, and incentive buys to save on fuel costs. Those might come in handy as the price of gas continues to rise.

Shopping all around town has also taught me a lot about our community, and sadly a few places that we really need. I think that our little town would greatly benefit from an Aldi, and a Bakery Outlet store. Both stores would really help out with the rising cost of groceries, and maybe get the existing shops to lower their prices, just a bit.

For the most part I’ll stay shopping local, unless gas prices magically drop and I can shop at Dillons and Aldi along with the local shops;) I’ll also be checking those sale ads weekly to see where I can save even more.

I’ll still keep my fingers crossed that maybe one day we’ll get an Aldi or a Dolly Madison Outlet 😉 A girl can dream, and this girl is dreaming about lower grocery prices…