We Bought A NEW House!!!

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You can see a glimpse of the 3 season room here on the right. It will get a nice staining job done on it once the money tree in the back yard starts blooming. :)

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THANKS FOR VISITING!

Waiting on a nice warm day to finish painting all the trim, windows, & doors.

Grocery Trip

What did $75 buy me this week?

Kroger

2 pkgs. Cream cheese $2.00

1-5.34 lb. whole chicken $5.24

.98 lb. Roma tomatoes $2.05

2 gallons milk $4.78

Total: $14.07

Walmart

2 containers heavy whipping cream $5.92

32 oz. Yoplait strawberry yogurt $2.27

1 container frozen o.j. $1.14

114 oz. container Heinz ketchup $5.08

10 lb. sugar $5.42

2 pkgs. Vanilla pudding mix $.96

1 pkg. Oreo pudding mix $1.18

Liners $3.98

Ibuprofen $.98

5 doz. Eggs $8.16

3 lbs. onions $2.48

3 plums $1.50

2 peaches $1.00

2 nectarines $1.00

4-5 lb. bags flour $5.92

1 jar yeast $3.26

2 pkgs. Nestle chocolate chips $4.00

10 lbs. potatoes $2.99

Total: $57.59

Grand Total: 71.66

I Keel You!

This is my husband.

He is a hunter and this is what he shot last Saturday afternoon. Here is his weapon of mass destruction:

Well he's not the only one who can hunt in this house!

Here's my kill for the day:

And here is MY weapon of mass destruction:

And as I was typing this post up I got another!

MMhmmmm BE VERY AFRAID of a woman with a broom!

This Past Week's Menu

I don't have a set menu that I follow each week. Mostly I just decide the morning of on what we are going to have & then make sure I get out the things that are in the freezer first thing in the morning. Since I don't menu plan I am just going to be updating this post as the week goes on & then I am posting it at the end of the week.

Monday

Haystacks

-Taco Meat (made with deer)

-Rice

-Lettuce

-Tomatoes

-Shredded Cheddar Cheese

-Homemade Salsa

-Sour Cream or Ranch Dressing

-Tortilla Chips

Tuesday

Pigs in a blanket (made with homemade dough)

Homemade Coleslaw

Mac & Cheese

Peas

Wednesday

Chicken Pot Pie (made with leftover chicken & veggies found in freezer)

Homemade Strawberry Pie

Thursday

Lasagna (made with deer)

Cheesy Garlic Bread

Leftover Strawberry Pie

Friday

Dippy eggs (sunny side up)

Hash (made with 4 potatoes, 1 med. sized pork steak, & some onions)

Toast (homemade bread)

Mandarin Oranges

Home Canned Strawberry Applesauce

Saturday

Lunch: Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana (from freezer; made on Thur.)

Garlic Bread Sticks (made with refrigerated biscuits from tube)

Supper:

Homemade Beefaroni (made with deer)

Tossed Salad

Leftover Coleslaw

Sunday

Lunch:

Ham & Beans

Homemade Bread

Overnight cookies

Supper:

Crockpot Meatloaf (made with deer)

Mash Potatoes

Green Bean Casserole

This Week's Grocery Shopping

Here's what I got:

12 big roll Charmin $7.57 8 roll Sparkle paper towel $5.37 3 oranges (2 not shown. already eaten!) $1.44 Lettuce $1.24 Tomatoes .90 lb. $1.75 Shortening $4.42 Chicken boullion cubes $2.00 16 oz. bottle Italian dressing $1.50 Bacon bits $1.46 1 frozen orange juice $1.14 2 lb. powdered sugar $1.78 Suave conditioner $1.38 Suave shampoo $1.38 10 lb. potatoes $3.77 6 cups Yoplait yogurt $3.00 3-16 lb. bags Friskies cat food (purchased once/mo.) $32.97 2-35 lb containers Tidy Cat litter (purchased once/mo.) $24.24 Subtotal: $96.41 - .25 .40 -------------------- Subtotal: $95.76 + 5.10 tax -------------------- $100.86 Before going shopping I withdrew $75 at the ATM for groceries this week. After going around the whole store, getting everything on my list while calculating the prices on the calculator I just knew that 2 bags of cat food & 1 container of litter just wasn't going to be enough for the whole month. I asked the Lord to help me & He reminded me to look in my coupon pocketbook. There was $27 in there!!! That gave me a total of $102! So I went clear back around the store & picked up another bag of cat food & another container of litter. And as you can see from my total I had JUST ENOUGH to purchase everything! Yay God!!! Well it looks like I didn't get a lot of "people" food this week but I do have a pantry & a chest freezer that have LOTS of food in there, so we have plenty. All it takes is come creativity.

Frugal Friday Tip

Making hand soap last. I went to Walmart & bought one of those generic brand liquid hand soaps that come in a foaming bottle (they cost under $1) & a bulk sized refill container of hand soap. After we finished using the soap that was in the foaming container I poured enough soap from the refill container in it to just cover the bottom then slowly added water to the fill line. Now our hand soap lasts a very long time. I also have done this with dish soap. We don't wash dishes by hand anymore since moving here but I am always washing my hands in the kitchen sink so this is great for handwashing.

Recipes For Yesterday's Post + A Bonus Recipe!

Amish White Bread

• 2 c. warm water
• 2/3 c. white sugar
• 1 1/2 t. salt
• 1/4 c. vegetable oil
• 6 c. bread flour (I used all purpose & it was fine)
• 1 1/2 T. dry yeast

Place in bread machine in order given. Hit dough cycle on your machine. When machine timer goes off, turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Roll into rectangle with rolling pin. Starting at end, roll up into a loaf. Pinch seam. Place into a greased loaf pan, top down. Now flip so the top is visible. Cover with kitchen towel & place in warm oven for 30 minutes. Bake @ 350* for 20-25 minutes. Take out & brush with butter. If top browns too fast, loosely place a piece of foil over top & continue baking. Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 2 eggs
• 1 c. butter, softened
• 1 t. soda
• 3/4 c. brown sugar
• 1/4 c. white sugar
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1 small box of instant vanilla pudding
• 3 c. flour
• 12 oz. pkg. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350*. Cream together butter & sugars; add eggs, soda, pudding, & vanilla. Add flour until mixture is not sticky to touch. Add chocolate chips. Bake 8 minutes. Yields: About 4 1/2 doz. (I make our cookies on the small side) You can mix this recipe up to make different kinds of cookies. I have used instant butterscotch pudding mix along with butterscotch chips; instant chocolate pudding mix along with peanut butter chips. Soft & Fast Bread Sticks

• 1 c. warm water
• 3 T. brown sugar
• 1 t. salt
• 1/4 c. oil
• 3 c. flour
• 2 1/2 t. yeast

Put in machine in order, set to dough cycle. Let rise in machine. Take out & pat into semi-long retangle (9x11). Take pizza cutter & slice lengthwise into 7-8 strips. Take one strip at a time & twist a bit before laying on greased sheet. So rest of strips, laying an inch apart. Cover & let rise. Cook @ 400* for 15 mins. Here's the bonus recipe! I made this last night & it was totally awesome! Tastes just like the soup at Olive Garden!! Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup

• 10 c. water
• 7 chicken boullion cubes
• 1 t. salt
• 1 1/2 t. red pepper flakes (This was too much for us. I'm going to reduce it to 1/2 t. next time!)
• 2 t. minced garlic
• 1 lb (about 10 med.) potatoes, peeled & sliced
• 1 lb. Italian sausage (I only had mild so that's what I used. Still as good!)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 8 oz. bag of fresh kale (found in the packaged lettuce section at store)
• 1 c. heavy whipping cream
• 6 T. real bacon bits (not the hard crunchy ones!)

1. In large stockpot, combine water, salt, boullion cubes, pepper flakes, garlic, & potatoes. Cook on medium heat, stir occasionally.
2. Saute sausage & onion til done then add to stockpot, along with kale. Simmer about 20 mins. til kale & potatoes are tender.
3. Add cream & bacon bits. Simmer another 10 mins.