Kmart was doubling coupons last week, and I went over on Thursday to see what I could get. While I spent more than I had planned, I scored some amazing deals! i spent around $56 and saved over $40. That's pretty good, right? Anyways, some of the items were actually free, like the tums and kids toothpaste. And some were just really cheap. but the boxes of cereal were really cheap, so I could not pass them up. I have been reading a guide to grocery shopping by Money Saving Mom, and one of her tips is to never spend more than $2 on a box of cereal. Each of those lovely boxes was under $2, amazing, I know. haha Anyways, here is a picture of my purchases. And I still have pictures of the Zoo Trip to put up!



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Free Stuff

I just love it! I have found all of these blogs where they advertise some of the best freebies. Matthew got the mail last night and guess how many freebies inside? 3! A little box of multi-grain cheerios (like the vacation size), an Oprah magazine, and a $5 gas card for Chevron! All for free! And I don't do any trials, where I have to cancel in x amount of months either. These were all no obligation. I think the best freebie I have gotten so far is the swiffer, tho. A whole starter set! That's huge!\

Do you have any good freebie stories?

Matt is going to do what I want...

That's the main gist of this story. But I have to explain it. We got a new car over the weekend. See, Matt's grandpa bought a new car, and then didn't like it, so his parents bought it for his sister, so we got her old car. It's a 98 Avalon and it gets amazing gas mileage! We are so blessed to have a car now. We are still trying to sell the truck tho, so let us know if you are interested!

Anyways, as we got back home from Bill and Jenna's wedding reception (woo married people!!), Matt rolled the windows down. He said he was going to leave them down to air out the car, to keep it cool for me. I said, "but what if it rains?" He just looked at me like I was crazy and said, "It's Southern California, it is not going to rain. And if it does, I will do whatever you want for a year!"* Well later we went to the grocery store and he rolled the windows up as we got home, maybe he actually knew what was coming. But sure enough, as I went outside on Monday morning, it had definitely rained, our porch was wet, and we live on the 2nd floor. haha I called Matt outside and he tried to say the sprinklers went crazy, but we all know what really happened. Matt spoke too soon, challenged me (and God!), and now has to do what I want for a year. Not that I will take him up on the offer, but it's fun to make fun of him! hahahaha



*Sidenote: Matt is now claiming that he said if rain gets in the car he would do whatever I wanted. Typical guy, trying to get out of things! haha

Flip Flop Fleet

I found this blog via someone else today. It's called Flip Flop Fleet and they are sending sandals to the less fortunate around the world. They are sending most to Haiti right now, but the shoes can be sent elsewhere. I think it is a wonderful idea, and would love to start up a little group here in Redlands. This organization is not a non-profit and therefore they don't accept the shoes personally. (which makes it seem less like a scam in my mind, I try to keep my eyes open to figure out who is really in need and who is just trying to make a quick buck) I am waiting for a response on where exactly we send the shoes (because I would mail them directly to an orphanage or World Vision or something like that). But in the meantime, let me know if you are interested in getting in on this action. Apparently Walgreens and Walmart, etc are trying to get rid of flip flops so they can get in fall things, so you can get shoes really really cheap (we're talking 25 cents). If I don't hear back from these ladies, I am going to contact our missionaries in Mexico (our = Trinitys's / Hands of Mercy) to see if they could use them, because I bet they can. We are hopefully going down in November, and I know someone else going in October.

Anyways, check out the site and let me know what you think: http://flipflopfleet.blogspot.com/

Yes, it is charity day today, but shouldn't it always be charity day??

Hunger Site & random thoughts

I think the reason that I have not posted much lately, is because I have not cooked much lately (I still love you casseroles!) Last night I bbqed chicken and asparagus. Matt said the asparagus was burnt and he didn't like it, but I think that was just his excuse. While it was quite crispy, it was very juicy. And the chicken, oh my how that was good. I marinated it in a herb & garlic marinade (Lawrys, bought on sale for a dollar at Staters, beat that!) overnight, so it was juicy and flavorful. We also had some mashed potatoes, I love just add water stuff. It may not be super healthy, but it's easy! And we had real potatoes the night before, so I didn't feel guilty.

Tonight we leave for San Diego to see my side of the family. And Saturday - Wild Animal Park! I am soo excited!

One other thing. There is a wonderful site that I found during my senior year in college, thehungersite.com. Basically you click the "feed the hungry - for free" button and it donates food. How? Well there are sponsers, whos ads are shown on the page after you click the button. So based on how many clicks there are, they donate money. It's a way for them to get advertising, and you to help people. It's completely free and you don't have to register. There's also the literacy site, breast cancer awareness site, etc, all at the top of the pages on tabbies. I highly recommend making this your home page, or at least adding it as a tab to your home page. Let me know what you think!

Not much to say

I do not really have time to post, but I just wanted to say hello and hopefully I will be back to my regular blogging soon. We are finally done house-sitting. It has been a very rough time (2 sec recap: dog pee carpet, ants in kitchen, dishwasher broken). Need I say more? The one bright light: They had a wonderful spa bathtub, so I got to take a couple nice long baths!

We still have leftover casserole (thank you Jesus), so I don't have to prep anything. I was so wiped out this weekend, after my Saturday seminar on child abuse, that I did not want to go anywhere near the kitchen. Matt was really disappointed when I informed him that I would not be making bread. Maybe I will surprise him with some fresh bread on Wednesday. i will be doing some real cooking on Thursday (BBQ chicken!) and then this weekend will be spent with my parents and brother, which we are really excited about!

Other news: Matthew's grandpa Richard (Dick) moved in this weekend. He's in a nice little apartment in Loma Linda. It was good to see him and help him get settled.

Well, back to reading. (want to know anything about human development? just ask) ta ta for now

Making Bread

I knew school would come and I would get too busy to post! haha But I think it also has to do with the fact that we are house-sitting and running around and don't really have internet up there. Or maybe the fact that I have one whole book to read (300 pages), 18 chapters to read (well we can skim about 7 of those 18), a child to watch (I can't think of the word so this doesn't sound creepy), about 10 children's books to read, and a few articles to research! augh! haha Anyways, I was smart in making all of those casseroles last week / weekend, because I haven't had to cook all week, and probably won't have to for another week (oh freezer I love you). I'm so thankful that we got 2 sets of Corningware (thanks so much Greenaways), they are lifesavers, and the plastic lids make them really stackable. I digress, I took pictures of my breadmaking last week, but forgot to post them. It's a whole wheat bread (1/2 regular flour, 1/2 half whole wheat flour) So here goes nothing...

Mixing it together...

Kneading Round 1, 10-15 minutes...

This is a ball of un-risen dough....

Put into a greased bowl and let rise... (until doubled in size)

Wow, it actually did double, I was impressed!

Punch Down! Then knead again for a few minutes...

Put into a greased pan and let rise until doubled in size (about30 minutes)

Again, I was shocked that it actually doubled in size again...

The end result, after baking for 30 minutes, a beautiful loaf of bread!

On the cooling rack (I forgot to get pictures of it sliced, my bad)

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Mac N Cheese Casserole

Earlier this week, I made a Mac N Cheese Dog Casserole, recipe from Rachel Ray. I used a mixture of large and regular sized macaronis, so the recipe turned out HUGE! I had one large casserole, one medium casserole, and 2 smaller casseroles. Good thing it is tasty, right? haha Anyways, here are some pictures from my night of cooking (Matt was away at a concert, so I had the house and kitchen to myself!)

First I browned the all beef hot dogs, then drained them on a paper towel:

Then I sauteed onions in butter and oil while the macaroni was cooking (sorry I can't rotate pictures on blogger, i don't know why they don't rotate like in the image program):

Added beer to the onions and cooked it off:

Drank some of the leftover beer, couldn't let it go to waste, right?

Then I drained the super huge macaroni in the sink:

Poured the sauce (added milk and ketchup and mustard to the onions, as well as lots of cheddar cheese) onto the noodles:

One almost finished casserole, still needs it's topping:

The large, finished casserole, which is now in the freezer for next week:

My little Megan sized casserole for that night, you can see it next to a checkbook, so it's pretty small, and cute!

The End, thanks for having some casserole with me!

Why yes I did get my lovely new sweater for one dollar. Thanks for asking. And yes, I am wearing it today because I am going back to school. Today is my first day of school, it's been 2 years since I have had one of those, and 5 years since I have had a first day at a NEW school! So anyways, I got some cute "work / professional / cute" clothes from H& M yesterday (thanks mom for the bday giftcard) for pretty cheap. And I still have money left on the card. but the sweater in question (for a dollar) was on sale at Gottschalks, and it's been in my closet waiting until school starts to be worn. WEll, today is that day folks, school has begun (well at 4 pm, but you get the picture).

Oh and Mom, I would have made you proud last night. I got out the ironing board (hadn't used the big one yet, so I had to take the plastic wrap off) and ironed my new clothes. The skirt has 2 layers, an inside solid black layer, and an outer semi-opaque striped layer. So I had to iron the inner layer first, then the outer, and then finally the waistband. Wow! I also pulled out other things that looked wrinkled and ironed them. I figured I might as well take advantage of the iron / board out opportunity. Thankfully Matt paints, so he doesn't need any work clothes painted! haha

That's it for now. I have some pictures of the Casserole that I made Sunday (maybe our kid will be Cassie too, like Mama's firstborn was supposed to be... but Katie, I think you are a much better Katie, not a Cassie at all!), so maybe I will post those later.

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Bacon Wrapped Loins

Bacon Wrapped Loins and Mashed Potatoes with Carmelized Mushrooms and Onions.

I took pictures of the dinner that I made last week. It tasted so yummy!  And Matthew and I do not even usually like mushrooms, and he hates them more than I do!  haha  But here are some photos of the process..

Chopping up Mushrooms:

Caramelized Onions and Mushrooms in the Skillet

Frying the Bacon Wrapped Tenderloins:

Mmmmm what a delightful dinner! (the potatoes were broiled in their skins)