Nickles and Dimes, Baby!

Since I moved into Vann's place, I have been trying to find as many ways to save money as humanly possible. Sharing a house is a money-saver in itself, but with it comes preparing meals for two....toiletries for two...and, well, everything for two. I absolutely love living here, but I have brought it upon myself to find as many deals as possible, especially in the grocery department. I will say that I have become especially good at checking out Kroger's weekly deals online. And the wonderful thing about Kroger is that they ALWAYS have great stuff on sale, even items that they don't advertise. Add some coupons to the mix, and you have yourself an even better deal! If you hate cutting out coupons, I would highly suggest checking out www.cellfire.com. They allow you to load their coupons onto your Kroger Plus Card, therefore cutting out the need to clip some coupons (no pun intended!).

I have also found that in order to save money, you have to spend a little money to get ahead. For example, if you check out eBay, you can search for grocery coupons that people are selling for cheap. I paid $1.35 the other day for over 100 coupons. It may seem silly to spend that kind of money for small pieces of paper, but it could also save us A LOT of cash... and in my opinion, it's worth a shot! And speaking of eBay, Vann and I have started an account on there in hopes that we can sell a few things that we no longer want....fingers crossed that we make a little bit of mulah!

If you are someone who enjoys getting samples in the mail, check out www.pgeverydaysolutions.com. You can sign up for free, and they have some great samples and coupons that they can send you in the mail. Not only are samples cool because you get to try them for FREE, they eliminate having to buy the full product just to find out that you HATE IT. Been there, done that...it's no picnic! Also, Dove is offering a sample of their conditioner right now. They give you two choices. I thought that I would be able to try both, but they make you choose. But it's free, so I'm not complaining!

Once things calm down at work, I am going to start working on a budget for us so that we can really save up some money. On top of that, I am going to start working on a binder that show the rotation of the items on sale at different stores. I saw this idea on Oprah I believe. She had a woman on her show who literally paid nothing for her groceries for a family of 6. And in some cases she got money back. Uh, yes please! My brother said that it takes a bit of time to get everything organized (per what one of his co-workers said), but once it's done, it's a breeze. I'm pretty sure I can put the time in to spend little to no money on groceries! My only issue is that I can't find the woman's website to save my life. If you know what I'm talking about, please let me know!

Thursday Date Night...At Home!

Ever since Vann and I went to the beach a couple of weeks ago, I have been wanting to try my hand at making some fish at home. I have only tried making fish one time, and it was a disaster. The fish wasn't as fresh as it should have been, and the cooking method was supposed to be on the grill. But considering at the time we did not have a grill to cook said fish on, I settled for cooking it in our toaster oven...DI-SAS-TER. It ended up taking forever to cook, and even after what seemed like a million years in that poor little oven, it was still all soggy and the coloring was more than a littly funky. I consider myself to be a pretty awesome cook, and usually will try a recipe more than once if I fail the first time (which is rare....haha! Cocky much?!?). But my fishy failure was more than enough to discourage me from making anything from the sea for years now. However, I have decided to put my big girl pants on and take a new recipe head on. So, below is our Thursday In House Date Night Dinner Menu...best of luck to me!

I would also like to mention that I am a little nervous about the banana daquiri. I have absolutely no recipe to go on, just a description from the Fudpucker's menu. A creamy vanilla milkshake infused with banana rum... yeah, it was delicious! So delicious that I am ready to come up with my own recipe to knock Vann's socks off. Let's hope it works :)

* Banana Daquiri
* Dijonnaise Tilapia
* Wild Rice
* Green Beans cooked with onion, chicken bouillion, and bacon
* Dinner Rolls

White Chicken Chili

2 lbs. chicken boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 packets McCormick White Chicken Chili Mix
4 (15 oz.) cans Great Northern Beans, not drained
2 (11 oz.) cans White Shoepeg Corn, not drained
2 (10 oz.) cans Original Rotel
Sour Cream
Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Boil the chicken until done. Let cool and shred. In a large pot, combine all ingredients except for the sour cream and shredded cheese. Bring to a boil, then let simmer for about 30 minutes. Place in serving bowls, and top with sour cream and shredded cheese. Mix until thoroughly blended with the chili.

When Vann and I went to the beach, his sister and brother-in-law watched our two little fur babies for us. So, after I got off work on Friday, I headed to Birmingham with the pups in tow, and had a girls' night with the hopefully-one-day-sister-in-law :). For dinner, Michele made this, and it was love at first bite! I know that the picture doesn't look extremely appetizing...and I wish that I could take another one, but my camera has been quite the little turd lately and this is the only one I could get. Please do not judge this meal based on my poor picture taking. I couldn't resist going ahead and posting this recipe, so you will just have to deal with the picture I have given you :) I wasn't sure if Vann would like this, but he LOVED it, and has requested that it be added into our regular rotation. I love to put tons of sour cream and cheese in with mine, while Vann likes only a hint of sour cream in his, but tons of cheese. Either way it is absolutely incredible, even if you just want it as is! I would also like to note that the recipe above is double the original recipe given to me. This meal freezes amazingly well. It's the perfect dish to have on hand on a night you just don't feel like cooking. Pull it out of the freezer, stick it in the microwave and defrost, then cook to desired temperature. And, it goes great with a grilled cheese sandwich! There is nothing easier than boiling and shredding some chicken, and then opening a few cans and throwing everything into a pot! Thank you, Michele!

On a different note, I have not had a chance to work on the toilet paper holder as planned. With a meeting every day last week, along with 2 banquets, I never had the energy by the time I got home. And when I finally had a night off, I got to spend some quality time with my brother, which was much needed and thoroughly enjoyed! I'm hoping that I will have a chance to work on it this weekend, but again, I will see what work has in store for me before making any promises!

Project #2

Each September the Syrup Soppin' Festival is held in Loachapoka, AL, and it brings in a crowd of about 20,000 to the small little town. Anything that you can imagine is sold there. Purses, hot sauces, sweets, paintings, etc. You name it, they probably have a table set up with exactly what you are looking for. This past year we stopped by tent where an old man was selling different wooden crafts and furniture. He had dressers, rocking chairs, key holders, coat holders, everything!



We actually purchased a small rocking chair from him the year before last and painted it in Alabama colors to give to Vann's Dad for Christmas, because he LOVES rocking chairs. This year we were able to purchase an out house that is actually a toilet paper holder. When you open the door to the out house, you will find a place to store about 3 or 4 rolls of toilet paper, and on the top is where the roll that you are currently using is held.



I fell in love with this when we purchased the rocking chair, but I didn't bring enough money to buy both, and the rocking chair was top priority. So this past September when we returned, it was all I could think about on the drive to the festival. I just knew that he wouldn't have anymore left. But low and behold, when we walked up on his tent, there they were! I just have to put about 2 or 3 more coats of white paint on it (and finish painting a couple of things on there period...I ran out of white paint and it is too messy outside to go to Walmart!), and then Vann is going to do some outlines of the items I want to paint on it in pencil, and then once I paint it we just have to put a clear coat on it and it will be complete! I should be done in about a week or so, but I will just have to see what work has in store for me before I make any promises. However, once we are done, I will post the pictures on here so that you can see the finished product!!!