Sandbox, meals to go, CVS and some thrift store finds

Hello everyone! 

Grandpa built a sandbox for our backyard.  All the grands are enjoying it, even 11 month old Jackson.  

We had a big family gathering here for Mothers Day lunch.  My husband smoked turkey and I fixed green beans in the crockpot with cole slaw, tabouli, fresh fruit and banana pudding.  I did everything ahead so it was ready to eat when we got home from church.  

Daughter in law Sheena brought an adult dot to dot workbook.  She and son Jimmy both did one.  

The numbers are teeny-tiny and I think they went up to 600 or 900 or so.  

Sheena and Jimmy enjoyed doing them but just looking close at them makes me cross-eyed.  

Where adult coloring are supposed to be relaxing, I think adult dot to dot books might just stress a person out :) 

I've been mostly cooking things off of my May menu plan. I made 2 meals to go- each was shared with my parents and my daughters family.  They are especially easy meals and very kid-friendly.  

Above is Homemade rolls, fresh fruit salad, homemade fried rice with lots of veggies, and Tyson Popcorn chicken.  

We don't eat a lot of prepared foods but we do like frozen Tyson chicken.  These 2 kinds are made with whole white meat, not chopped up and formed back together, and they taste really good.  

Below is Tyson Crispy chicken strips, strawberries and tiny potatoes cooked with whole green beans. 

CVS drug store 

I am so stocked from previous CVS shopping that we just don't need much. 

Last week, I had a 30% off email coupon good on anything not on sale.  

So I used it along with my ExtraCareBucks to get a great deal on the press on nails I like so much.  

My total was low and I saved 84%.  

But I was a wee bit sad to not get any ExtraCareBucks back even though I knew I wouldn't.  

I may go to CVS this week but I will probably wait until the new sale.  CVS sent me a $5 BeautyBucksExtraCareBucks, a $6/$30 coupon and a 20% off coupon. They sure know how to entice this bargain shopper.  

Thrift store finds 

I don't think I've been in a month or so.  Here is what I bought this morning......

2 free books for my husband 

2 picture frames for my daughter - she plans to do a photo collage wall soon

Shorts for the 3 youngest grand sons 

A skort and play shorts for one granddaughter

A brand new Disney top for another granddaughter 

3 nice pair of long pants, size 4T, for next winter.  It is really hard to find like-new long pants for little boys- they seem to always have worn knees or stains.

Columbia brand shorts for my dad and North Face shorts for my husband. 

And a bundle of needed plastic hangers.

I had a lot of comments on my last post about the Silver Dollar City skillet meal on our May Menu.  I haven't made it yet, but when I do, I will photograph and blog about it.  

That's about it from here.  My husband has had several Doctor appointments that have kept us busy, nothing serious.  The oldest grands are busy with end of school activities and summer sports. 

And we are very excited about the upcoming birth of grandchild #8, a brother to these pretty sisters.  

Enjoy May everyone, it's going fast! 

Cooking, sewing, flowers and a sweet Etsy shop

Hello everyone 😄

I did some cooking to take to my parents this week.  I baked buns with my grandparents recipe, oatmeal cookies done the easy way with a cake mix, baked carrots and my Aunt Evelyn's Tuna Rice Casserole.  

For lunch today, Jackson and I had some of the extras of that meal.  He really liked the Tuna Rice which I fed him with a fork.  It delicious but too messy as a finger food.  

Can you see the bun in his hand? 

Then he finished off his old fashioned meal with a new fangled applesauce squeeze pouch.  

Aunt Evelyn's recipe - I think it's rare to find a casserole recipe that doesn't use a can of cream soup.  This has an easy to make cheese sauce. 

It's a great recipe if you have leftover rice.  Measure the rice after cooked, not before.  

Aunt Evelyn was Catholic and she often served this to her husband and 6 children on Fridays- but I suspect she must of doubled or tripled the recipe to feed that many mouths.  

Like the Dutch Baby recipe, this recipe uses just basic ingredients and is very budget friendly. 

Sewing - my son requested a tissue box cover for his office so I'm making this flying geese pattern in blues and grays to match that office.  

It is a Leisure Arts online pattern that I bought several years ago and stitches up quickly.  

I

Manicure for the first of Autumn- these are press on nails from Impress.  I sometimes wear Dollar Tree nails but the Impress are my favorite.  I bought these at Walmart. There was a big display of new seasonal nails right beside the costume section. 

We have zinnias growing in both our front and backyards and they are thriving in our current cooler, wet weather 

I bought a small art piece for fall from a brand new Etsy shop.  It's a hand painted plaque that says "happy fall y'all" inside a vine wreath.  I hung it over a vintage mirror in our dining room and I am so happy with how it looks - but obviously I don't have photography skills when it comes to mirrors.  

https://www.etsy.com/shop/Letterstoathief

The shop belongs to the daughter of an internet friend of mine that I've known for a dozen or more years.  I think most of you know Terri of Blue House Journal and Penny Ann Poundwise from her blogs. 

If you're needing a gift or a little something for your home, browse Katie's shop.  

June 6- June 11

Hello everyone, 

I had this unrealistic idea that I would blog everyday in June.  Obviously that didn't happen.  But here's what I've been up to.  

I took a supper to share with my parents at their retirement apartment.  My daughter's family also ate this meal. 

I baked a loaf of bread and some sandwich buns- and remembered to put yeast in both batches 😄

The entree was chicken salad.  I boiled and shredded one whole chicken. 

The small batch is just chicken and mayo. 

The big batch is chicken, mayo, toasted pecans, red grapes, craisins and a little celery.  It was so good!  I will be making this again.  And soon! 

There were also some grape halves and quartered tiny heirloom tomatoes to eat with the sandwiches.  

I made a big batch of chili- mostly for the freezer.  We like chili here year round though I've heard lots of people say they don't eat soup or chili in the summer.  We do both! 

My daughter found out about a small blackberry farm near us and has bought beautiful berries there twice.  

The berries are just huge, so good and have very few seeds.  

I put most of ours in the freezer for cobblers.  

We also ate plenty just fresh.

Granddaughter Elizabeth found a blackberry shaped like a heart ❤️

Huge Blackberries!  That's one berry by a regular teaspoon.  

We hope to get more in a week or so when a different variety is ready to pick.m 

As usual, I do my manicures with Impress press on nails.  I especially like this polka dot- glitter- orange combo.  

There's been a little jewelry making going on.  I have a lot of beads- passed to me when my mom downsized here crafting supplies.  

I made these 2 with Pinterest tutorials.

My son and grandson enjoy making rubber band bracelets.  

Sewing- I hemmed some suits pants for my son- but no photo. 

This stuffed cat had a tail problem- I suspect it had been swung around by its tail 😱 and was barely still attached.  

I sewed it back on - extra securely.  I also sewed up 8 cloth napkins.

Our neighborhood had its annual yard sale today.  We didn't sell anything but we did set out some discards by our front curb with FREE signs taped to them.  Everything was gone within in an hour 😄

That was easy. 

My grandson and I shopped at a few of the yard sales but nothing much interested us. We did see lots of good deals though.  I have been decluttering and organizing for several months and I just didn't see any bargains I wanted to let occupy our straightened up spaces.  

We did spend a quarter- grandson bought one of those old fashioned wood paddle toys with a rubber ball on a bouncy string.  

My husband has been gone for almost 2 weeks helping his parents after his mother needed surgery for a fall and his father came down with a bad cold.  Both are recovering and my husband returned safely home this morning.  🏡

So, that's what I've been up to!  I hope all of you are fine and getting lots done.  

An assortment

Good morning,  

Here is the list I started Monday.  I'm happy to say a good bit of it was accomplished yesterday. 

My Impress press on nails are a silver glitter sort of French manicure style.  

This giant crocheted afghan was made by grandmother for my uncle's king size bed.  He apparently didn't use it much as it still looks brand new.  He passed it on to us as he just downsized from a 2bedroom to a 1 bedroom apartment in his retirement home.
We (meaning our 8 grands) will use it a lot! These 4 and 8 year olds look so tiny on this huge blanket.

I made another sandwich box for the week.  I added carrot and celery sticks to eat with this one. 

I also made a big salad and I chopped up more fresh veggies to have for this weeks cooking.  

They have already proved to be very handy. 

They are stacked  in the fridge and labeled with masking tape. 

I hope to make a new spring table runner, maybe machine quilted, for the big dining table.  I did round up fabric and pressed it in preparation before cutting it out.  I think I want to look and see if I have some light green fabric to add with this.

The kimono sewing has been started but is going to need some help 

Obvioulsy, the sleeves came out way too long and the middle part is too big. 

I'll do some whacking and more sewing and see how it ends up,  right now, I'm not too optimistic I'll like the finished kimono.  

We shopped on the military base recently.  Our daughter asked us to look for church dresses for our oldest granddaughter as they usually have a very nice clothing department with low prices.  

We did buy her 2 sweet dresses.  

This dress below was not one we bought.  I did look at it and first thought it was pretty and very appropriate for an almost 7 year old- except for the belly cut away part.  Isn't it strange for such a conservative looking dress to feature a bare tummy? 

This webpage is from Belk, I found it while doing Swagbucks searches. But it is the same Bonnie Jean dress we saw at the base exchange.  

Speaking of dresses, my daughter baked this one for some friends bridal shower, 

Pr

Isn't it pretty?  And I know it tasted better than a bought cake. 

If you wonder what life is like with a baby and a toddler 😱 Well, this is our son's two babies.
Charlie is quite proud of herself for coloring up a good part of her body.
At least she didn't color baby RJ.  He seems to of slept through her escapades.  For now anyway 😂

Homemaking this past week or so

Hello everyone,  first I want to thank everyone who read and signed up for Fetch Rewards.  I almost have enough points to cash for a $50 gift certificate.  I’ve done a number of points programs since the internet started and Fetch truly is the easiest.  

I posted earlier that I put up a St. Patrick’s Day tree but I didn’t post a photo. 

I had an emailed coupon code from Olive Garden so we tried their catering.  We ordered 1/2 gallon each of 2 kinds of soup and salad for 6 and 12 breadsticks.  It was packed so nice and everything was delicious.  We enjoyed soup and salad every day for a week for about $40. 



Sewing- I used scraps and remnants to cut out some baby bibs and burp cloths.  

They are for our son’s college friend who is having her first baby soon.  

Aren’t there so many cute baby fabric prints in stores?


I made a St. Patrick’s bracelet for my mom.  Green has always been her favorite color too.  

My to do list for this week- shortly after I made it Monday morning.  

My manicure is Impress press on nails- they work best for me and I get compliments on them often,  


The heritage of our new puppy is mystery and he is growing much bigger than we or the veterinarian expected him to.  He outgrew his small food and water bowls.  Instead of buying bigger ones,  he is using some Pyrex bowls that are not part of any of my sets.  
Use what you have! 





We all like pudding and gelatin cups.  I use 5 ounce portion cups from Amazon because they are so convenient. 

But when my budget was tighter,  I made in reusable juice glasses or plastic containers.  

We like the Aldi and Royal brand gelatin and puddings justvas much as the more expensive Jello brand.  




I recently made a quadruple batch of freezer biscuits from the King Arthur site. 

They are so delicious and we like being able to bake a few at a time and have fresh biscuits at breakfast. 

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/biscuits-recipe



I had a first time user coupon and tried Sprouts home delivery.  With the coupons, this $45 total dropped to $20.  I was very happy with how nice the delivered produce was.  

I won’t do home delivery regularly but it’s nice to know it’s now available if we need it. 

In the bag is 2 pounds of English walnuts and there were also 2 pounds of butter. 

We really like the Killer Dave’s bread with lots of grains and seeds.  I just discovered Aldi has an almost identical version for 1/2 the price of Sprouts. It is especially nice toasted. 

Below is my general plan for meals this month.  

They are not in any order.  

As the days go on, I just pick which ones we feel like having and it’s nice knowing we have the ingredients on hand.  

☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️March Meal Planning ☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️

✅Pepperocini beef from freezer 

fresh spinach - salad - French bread

Taco meat from freezer- crunchy shells, also have soft tortillas for round 2

Refried  beans from freezer - taco toppings 

Roma sauce from freezer with pasta

French bread  green salad 

Hamburger soup- make with fresh potatoes,  carrots, canned tomatoes 

Chicken strips from freezer with homemade mashed potatoes 

Green salad

Cube steaks with oven fries, gravy

Green beans 

Tater tot casserole with green beans 

Bacon lettuce tomato sandwiches 

Chicken shepherds pie with cooked chicken from freezer and mixed vegetables, 

Homemade mashed potatoes 

Salmon patties with wild rice

Fresh spinach 

Chicken fajitas with bell peppers from freezer, onions

Flour tortillas and toppings 

Baked or smoked whole chicken 

Mashed cauliflower 

Green salad 

✅Hamburgers 

Toppings and baked fries 

Spinach 

Red beans and rice - buy beans and green bell pepper 

Chili from the freezer on rice - cook extra 

Fried rice 

Turkey dogs - use buns or wrap dough and make pigs in blankets 

Baked beans 

Easy Baked chili rellenos with baked chicken 

Green salad 

Use frozen pizzas and chicken strips if needed at busy time 

☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️

Baking- mini choc chip muffins- use up sour cream 

Snacks/sides

Celery and carrot sticks - make homemade dip

Celery sticks w/ jalapeño or plain cream cheese

Pimento cheese 

 ✅Pudding cups

✅Jello cups 

Our 8 grands are all busy and doing great.  

Gavin has been to 2 big livestock shows this year.  

Little brother Braeden isn’t old enough to show animals but he like to help with the grooming 


Isn’t this a great school photo? Elizabeth is almost 8 and sold 800 boxes of Girl Scout cookies this winter.  


Andie just turned 6 and she is also in Girl Scouts and really likes kindergarten.  

My daughter did these costumes for JJ and his best friend to wear on Dr Suess Day at their school. 

I hope you all are fine and having a good March.