GNO

As a Mom, I pride myself on being there for my kids 24/7. It is my job, that is what I do.

But sometimes,I want to be more than just Mom...I want to be Marie.

The women in my neighborhood, have started going out once a month. Unfortunatley, something has prevented me from going every time.

So even though yesterday was a little crazy, I made sure to get out of this house!

I had a great time hanging out with friends and celebrating a friend's birthday.

It was also nice to not have to make my own dinner!

All I can say is I am not going to miss the next one...no matter how tired I am the next day!

stockpile cooking

What do most couponers have? Besides an insane amount of paper clutter? Well that would be, a stockpile. No matter how big or small, there are some things that are pretty easy to get for pennies on the dollar.

When I found this recipe, and looked at the ingredients, I knew it would be good for couponers. Why? It uses chili (we are chili snobs and will only eat Nalleys) however, Hormel regularly puts out coupons for .50/2 and they are consistently on sale for $1. So we are looking at around .50 for that. Next, refridgerated biscuits. Another item that regularly is on sale and has coupons. Or there are always the store brand. Taco seasoning is another item that I consistently get for free.

**This recipe calls for ground beef but to save money, you could leave it out, no problem!**

This recipe was found in this magazine that I love and adore.

Here is the recipe:
Taco Biscuit Bake

1lb ground beef
2/3 cup water
1 envelope of taco seasoning
2 tubes (12 oz each) of refrigerated biscuits (*note, I used the Wal Mart Great Value brand of biscuits and they were only around 8 oz. So I ended up using 3 instead of 2 tubes. Mostly you just want to cover the bottom of your dish)
1 can chili (15 oz)
1 cup shredded cheese ( I never measure and just throw on what looks good. Is there ever a thing as too much cheese?!)

In a large skillet, cook ground beef. Drain and return to pan. Stir in water and taco seasoning. Bring to a boil and stir a couple of minutes longer.

While that is cooking, grease a 9x13 pan. Quarter your biscuits and place at the bottom.

Combine hamburger mixture with chili and cheese. Pour on top of biscuits.

Bake uncovered at 375* for 25-30 minutes

This was all that was left...My kids devoured it!

Sides could be a salad, corn, spanish rice...or all of them. You can also add sour ceam and green onions to the top of your casserole.

Reinventing

Almost every day, I am asked for advice...

How do I coupon? How do I save money on produce? On meat? How can I cut my grocery bill? How can I get my spouse to support me? Where do I start?

So I changed the whole theme of my blog to money saving/coupons. I wanted to help. I still do. But can I tell you something?

There are TONS, of blogs & facebook pages that are devoted to coupons & money saving. Whenever I go to share a deal...there are 50 others who have already shared it.

I don't want to reinvent the wheel.

Saving money & coupons are important to me. But it isn't all that is important to me. I have 1001 other interests.

I am more than happy to help anyone get started & or continue with coupons. I just don't want to constantly focus on it.

I am going to go back to my roots. The reason I started this blog in the first place. To share my love of  homemaking as a whole. 

There is a lot more to homemaking then just keeping the budget. Unfortunatley, I am not very good at any of them. lol What is that saying, "jack of all trades, master of none?" something like that anyway.

Always talking about money, frankly gets a little boring (: So lets liven' things up a little, shall we?

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time flies...

Wow how time flies when you are sick, your kids are sick, you're trying to get your homeschool more organized, your life more organized...

Or maybe blogger just has the wrong date for my last post. There is no way it could have been the 29th of February!

Now it is the middle of March. Seriously, how does that happen?

Awww...well anyway.

My husband has been gone for a little over a month and with all the things going on in our lives, my budget is all but out the door.

It is time to reign it in my friends.

Everyone in the military gets paid on the same days. The 1st and the 15th. So when it comes to planning my grocery budget, I plan for every two weeks.

Well you know what today is, it's the 15th, which means its time to get back in the saddle. How do I do that? By organizing my huge stack of coupons, planning my trips & planning my meals by what is at the store.

How do you keep your grocery budget on track?

Pina Colada Salad

I love cookbooks. I do. I also love cooking magazines. There is just something about recipes I guess (:

I recetly purchased a new cook book, "Real Mom Kitchen". It is full of fun & easy recipes.

One day while waiting in the car rider line for my kiddos, I found the recipe for this Pina Colada salad.

I love coconut but my husband doesn't. My kids are half and half. Some do, some don't. So I have to remember that if I make a recipe with coconut...I may end up having to eat the whole thing by myself.

This salad was so yummy and the kids helped me gobble it up. Even though spring isn't quite here, this salad reminds me of summer!

Pina Colada Salad recipe:

1- 12oz. container of whipped topping  (I used fat free)
1- (3.4oz)pkg instant coconut cream or vanilla pudding mix ( I used vanilla)
3-(6oz) pina colada yogurts
2-3 bananas, sliced
1-20 oz can pineapple tidbits, drained ( I didn't drain mine and I really wish I would have, mine was really runny)
toasted coconut, (optional)

In a large bowl, mix whipped topping, dry pudding mix and yogurt.

Mix well to dissolve pudding mix.

Refrigerate mixture for at least an hour.

Mix in bananas and  pineapple just before serving.

Sprinkle top with toasted coconut

the Lorax

Like most people, we own quite a few Dr. Suess books...

*Cat in the Hat
*Oh the Places you'll go
*Green Eggs and Ham
* The Grinch
*One Fish, Two Fish
*The Foot Book
*Horton Hears a Who

However, we don't have the Lorax. When my husband saw the preview for the new movie, he announced, " I have never even heard of that one."

So excited to be hanging out at Target (:

Now although I am not as familiar with it as say, the Cat in the Hat, I have at least heard it and read it.

Targets all across the country were offering a story hour and reading the Lorax. So we decided to go and get some of the goody bags being offered.

Having 5 kids sure comes in handy sometimes. 5 kids = 5 goody bags.

We hurried to the store, as the event was from 9-11, I was hoping the crowd wouldn't be big at 9:00. I was right! After heading to the book section, we were re-directed to the childrens clothing section.

Only a few of us were there. We sat and listened as a very non-enthusiastic Target employee read Green Eggs and Ham. She passed out the goody bags first which was good because my kiddo's didn't last long. Ivan kept saying, "I have heard that story. My Mom reads me that story."

The goody bags were nice reusable grocery bags, filled with coupons, snacks and Lorax activities. We especially liked the mustache!

Dr. Suess books were on sale 2/$20 and others were 2/$10. We recieved coupons that were good for $2 off a $10 book. So I bought two new books at $8 each. Not bad for Dr. Suess books (:

The boys were so embarassed to be in the lingerie section. They kept saying, "my eyes are burning!"

All in all, it was a fun event and I plan on doing it again!