If you do stuff, stuff gets done.......

If you do stuff, stuff gets done.......

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

baby succulents, bobbing for marshmallows, meal planning and coupon shopping

Most all of succulents I started from leaves and cuttings are growing.
I ordered a set of 16 tiny clay pots on Amazon but that was not nearly enough.
So I looked on Pinterest and found an easy way to make seed pots with the larger plastic Easter egg halves hot glued onto tiny tiles from the Lowe’s flooring department.
They seem to grow almost daily and I’m really enjoying their progress.  





Public schools in our area are all in session except for the elementary school where these 3 grandchildren are enrolled.  That school is moving into a brand new building and all the heavy rains we had in the spring for the construction work off their schedule.  
Hopefully their new school will be ready for children by next week. 
In the meantime,  these 3 are mostly spending their days with me as their parents work at different schools that are in session.  


We’ve been looking for fun things to do and I made a list of things we can do this week.  
So far, we’ve scratched off 3.
Above, they were having a great time ‘bobbing for marshmallows “ 
I filled that tub with water and then we dropped in a few of the larger marshmallows. 
The kids each put their face in the water until they caught a marshmallow with their mouth.  
I thought it was kind of gross but they had an absolute ball doing it. 




With busy days,  I thought a detailed menu plan would be helpful.  
And it has been! We aren’t eating these meals in this exact order,  but I  have all the ingredients on hand for everything and it’s easy to just decide what to serve each day as we go along.  
side dishes are fruit,  salad, fresh veggies like celery, carrots and tomatos from our backyard,  also frozen vegs, crockpot baked potatoes and veggie straws. 

These grands are especially fond of fruit and my husband and I usually eat several servings of fruit daily.  I was happy to find peaches for .48 a pound, red grapes for .75 a pound and the pears were 3 pounds for $1.  
I also found our favorite kinds of bread and buns marked to less than half so I bought some of  those and put them straight in the freezer when I got home.  

Yes, I still shop at CVS most every week and has been trying out Walgreens.  
I’ve found some good deals at Walgreens but their digital coupons don’t always apply and their register rewards and points system is complicated.  I will shop there st least an few more times as I have quite a few points built up but after I spend them,  I think I will pretty just stick with CVS and occasionally Dollar General and Family Dollar.    
I used coupons and rewards for all this stuff at CVS and Walgreens,  spent about $25 cash and got about that much back in store money for my next trips.
my husband is happy I found deals on his 2 favorite kinds of coffee,
and I was happy to find deals on bags and disposable plates and bowls.
The grands like the fries and chicken nuggets for fast meals- there are 2 bags of each as they are Buy 1 Get 1 Free at Walgreens this week.


hope you all have a good rest of your week
and hope it is cooler where you are.  
We've been under a heat advisory but the weather people  say cooler days are coming soon! 

Saturday, August 10, 2019

Company coming for lunch


It’s Saturday and I think a simple lunch is suitable for our guests coming today.  
I made turkey and cheese on little buns from Walmart
Ham and cheese on croissants from Aldi 
Mustard and mayonnaise for each person to add as desired 
A bowl of chips- Poppables and 2 kinds of Sun Chips
Fresh cantaloupe, strawberries and red grapes
Homemade cookies 
Beverages will be iced tea, lemonade and water. 
I have both the coffee maker and tea maker loaded and ready to turn on if anyone wants a hot beverage afterward. 
Paper plates, cups, utensils and napkins will also be used - they are only used when we’re hosting a group
That’s it 


The cookies are a recipe that I’ve been making since 2012.  They stir up quickly, no mixer needed.
I make as the recipe says but I omit the raisins, use extra cinnamon and usually use vegetable oil and plain Greek yogurt.  I know those sound odd for cookies but if you read the recipe,  you’ll see.
https://www.cookiemadness.net/2012/09/26/one-bowl-oatmeal-raisin-cookies/

I made these cookies earlier this week and took them to my parents when my brother and 5 grands were there.  Everyone enjoyed them.  One grandson said “Grandma,  I know what job you should get when you get a job,  you should be a chef”.
I have zero plans to look for a job but I do think I’ll bake cookies for my grandchildren more often.





And the cold things are covered and in the fridge just waiting for lunch time.