My big kid is officially on Spring Break, which is a little weird to me… It is hardly Spring here though, I’ve got my daffodils under plastic, and the temps are barely over 30. Thade keeps telling me that because it is Spring Break we have to spend everyday at the park, and I have to tell him no, it is just too stinking cold.
So are you on Spring Break too? Do you have any big plans, or maybe warmer weather than me?
I’m one of those people who truly dreads Friday the 13th, and this morning Friday the 13th reared its naughty little head…
I stayed up late last night baking a batch of Vanilla cupcakes for my hubby to take to work for Friday. I like to send along some treats whenever I can for him and his co-workers and the customers too. It has been awhile since I sent a batch of cookies, so this time I decided cupcakes would be a tasty surprise. I baked them during dinner, and after the kids were sleeping, I came back downstairs and got them all iced for Friday. I packed them in my cake carrier, and set them on my hubby’s desk so he wouldn’t forget them in the morning.
This morning James was getting ready to go to work, and he really wanted a cupcake, but he decided that he would wait until he got to work. He carried the cupcakes out to his car, and put them in the front seat. When he got to work he went to the passenger side door to take the cupcakes in to work, and then there was a cupcake catastrophe.
When he picked up the cake carrier the lid snapped off, and sent the cupcakes crashing to the ground… They all landed icing side down too. It was a total cupcake loss, and a big icing mess in the parking lot. Of course it had to happen on Friday the 13th!
I know mischief comes in threes, so we’ll see how the rest of the day goes. So far I’m not too happy with Friday the 13th.
Let’s Make Some Fruit Dip
Thanks to Walk KS I’ve got to eat a lot of fruits and veggies. Don’t tell my kids, but eating all those fruits, well sometimes they just need a little something extra. I’ve got an easy recipe for Fruit Dip to help make those fresh fruits even tastier.
You’ll need:
Mix all ingredients together, and blend like crazy. I like to use a big bowl, so that way I don’t end up with fruit dip all over my kitchen. Serve along side with fresh fruits, and refrigerate any leftovers.
When I made the fruit dip I used lower fat cream cheese, which made a thinner dip. I recommend the full fat cream cheese for a fluffy dip. Either way it is tasty treat!
I love reading all of the frugal posts popping up on Yahoo, all about being the newly frugal. Being Frugal is definitely the new Going Green in 2009. I’m right there too, with sharpened scissors clipping coupons, trying my best to save where I can, and get the most for my money.
One of my favorite ways to save is by checking Dollar General first before I shop my weekly shopping list at Wal-Mart. I often find better deals at Dollar General, and the savings are worth the extra trip. I buy my Sugar and Flour there, and I also pick up baking cups for just $.75 too. You can also find many cleaning products, pet supplies, kitchen needs, and even tissues for just $1.00! My favorite find is their brand of dryer sheets (that have a fantastic scent) for $1.00, you can’t beat that.
On to Wal-Mart… I’m a bit of an obsessive compulsive when it comes to shopping at Wal-Mart. Before I go, I make a shopping list that follows the order of the store, I then only shop the aisles that have items on my list. Sticking to my list helps me avoid picking up extra items that are costly. I also only park on the side that I am shopping on, that saves a little time too.
Another great way to save is by shopping Aldi. I make a big list for the entire month, and stock up and save. I am better about sticking to my menu if I already have the item on hand and ready to cook. At my last trip to Aldi I also picked up their cleaning supplies at $.97 each, the products work great and saved me a little too.
Walgreens is my very favorite place to use coupons and buy diapers. Walgreens also offers a great Easy Saver rebate program that can earn you gift cards towards future purchases, or rebate checks that you can put into savings for a rainy day. Their diaper prices are hard to beat, and the wonderful Walgreens associates always go above and beyond to search for a coupon that I might have missed. I love looking at the total and seeing just how much I saved.
Making favorite foods at home is a great way to save. Last August I started baking bread for my family, and at Christmas my mom gave me a Bread-maker to help out with the task. I have eliminated store bought bread from my shopping list. My favorite way to save with the bread-maker is to use it to make Pizza Dough. I make 2 pounds of dough which gives me a large pizza, and a medium pizza Making two pizzas cost me about $5.00 to make, toppings and all. There are always plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day too.
How have you changed your ways to become a Frugal McDoogal in 2009?
Darn you Taco Bell and your hilarious commercials that are on during NASCAR that make me want to go to Taco Bell right away and order nachos… It just isn’t right, but thank goodness Nacho Night is on the menu, let’s see if I can make tasty Nachos, just like Taco Bell.
When we have Nachos, I like to set up a Nacho Bar, so everyone can make their favorite Nachos. I think mine look pretty good, but let’s see what the boy’s say.
Dylan simply said “MMMM Nachos”, while Thade exclaimed “I wish we could have Nachos every night”. Even James agreed that they were way better than Taco Bell’s by saying “Taco Bell Who?!?”, and yep I’m a big fan too.
I think time wise I was pretty good too. If I had to get everybody ready and out the door to go and wait in the drive thru, it would have probably taken me just as much time to pick them up, as it would for me to make them at home. Also my ingredients were fresh, and made right away.There were also plenty of Nacho fixings for seconds too.