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

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

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Looking for organic coupons?

Organic Deals 

Saving Naturally

This is mostly for my friend Megan.  She eats a plant based  organic diet and lives in the expensive Washington DC area right now.  Groceries there are especially high she says.  I looked for coupon sites that specialize in organic products and found quite a few sites but it seems many of them only posted in the past and don't have current deals or promotions.

The above 2 links were the best and most current ones I found.
Any one know of any other sites that post about organic food deals?  

This weeks eat some freeze some cooking



we like cookies and this week I baked an old favorite, a lower fat chocolate chip cookie recipe.  In the freezer, I found a partial bag of butterscotch chips so I made about 1/3 of them with butterscotch and the rest with chocolate chips.  I posted the recipe in a past at the link below.
and just like that time,  I quadrupled the recipe this time too.  

I kept some cookies out for snacking and put the rest in small containers in the freezer. Cookies - either baked or cookie dough- are just about the easiest thing to freeze and then serve when needed.  

One night we had company for supper and I served homemade pizza and pasta with a big salad.  
So I made a large batch of family favorite roma sauce that day.  I used some on the pizzas, some on the pasta and the rest of it went in the freezer for future meals.
I don't have an exact recipe for roma sauce - but I did post my method on my first blog- Roma Sauce 

Having homemade prepared and semi-prepared foods in the freezer is so nice on busy days and days when I just neglect to meal plan.  

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Cut a rug

My Uncle Rex would think I had been dancing if I told him I had cut a rug.
Nope, no dancing, I really cut a rug. 

For the last few weeks, maybe months, I have been cleaning and decluttering our entire house.  Most of it is finished.  Yea!

After switching things around, I ended up with a runner size rug that matched in color to our breakfast room/turned kitchen addition, but it was the wrong length for the pace it needed to be.  

It is too hot to go rug shopping and this rug matched so, I did a redneck alteration to it.  

First, I marked the cutting line on the back and started cutting.  I used an old pair o heavy scissors and this was the hardest part. 
Once it was cut, it was going to ravel, so I sealed that cut end with duct tape.  I just turned a narrow strip on the front and widest part is on the back of the rug.
Then, I found some bias binding that blended with the rug.
I used E6000 glue to attach the binding, over the duct tape, to the cut end of the rug.  
Clothes pins work great to hold the binding in place until the rug dries.
Sorry, these pictures are too dark, but they show the rug in front of the door.  
The design is not perfectly semetrical I think it is fine. 
This rug is at the back door and the cut end is close to the armoire so it won't get much traffic. 

I am really happy with it.  I made something work with very little effort and no cost. 

But looking at this photo, I think touch up painting to the trim needs to be added to the to-do list.  

There is always something to keep me busy!  You too?

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Frugal breakfasts- eat some and freeze some

When I looked in the fridge one morning,  I realized there were 3 older eggs and some milk that was not going to be fresh enough to drink much longer.
To avoid the chance those eggs and milk might spoil, I used them up right then in a triple batch of oatmeal pancakes.

I made some regular size pancakes and many silver dollar size pancakes.  Our grandchildren love pancakes and they really like the little ones that they can just eat like finger food and dip in a little serving of syrup.

My husband and I both had a short stack for breakfast. The rest of the pancakes went in a storage container in the freezer. It is very quick to heat up a handful of those tiny pancakes when the grands are hungry. 


I use Betty Crockers pancake recipe with just a few changes- to make one recipe, just stir up these ingredients until almost smooth.  It is easy to multiply if you want to make a bigger batch. 

Oatmeal Pancakes
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
2 T oil of your choice or melted butter
1 T brown sugar
1 t vanilla - this was my Uncle Jarvis's favorite flavoring for pancakes
2 t baking powder
1/2 cup flour- all purpose or whole wheat
1/2 cup oatmeal and I really pack this down when I measure it.  
1/4 t salt

This batter will look too thin when first mixed up but if you wait a few minute, the oats will soak up the milk and the batter will thicken just right.


My friend Terri a.k.a PennyAnnPoundwise has been adding some Year of Savings posts to her blog at Blue House Journal.  I am planning on adding some too.

also linking to the blog hop party
at
The Charm of Home

Sunday, July 7, 2013

CVS deals week of July 7

We stopped at CVS on the way to church this morning.  It might of been my best shopping trip there ever.
           

Bought- 2 jugs of Tide, I've tried the homemade detergent 3 different times and just never got the spot removal that I like and get with Tide 
1 Dawn, 12 pack of Charmin, 1 Softsoap shower soap and 2 bags KitKat Minis. 

Coupons used
25 cents on both Charmin and Dawn. 
2 $2.50 on KitKats
$1.50 on Tide
$5 off $30 purchase scanner coupon
$1.50 quarterly rewards coupon
$17 in ECBs from 2 weeks ago

To pay the balance of $10.27, I used a $25 CVS gift card that I just got from Mypoints.com.  

And I got back a $10 ECB to use on future deals.  

  
Precious at Frugal makes cents just posted about her CVS deals
She got great deals too and hers are different from mine. 

My must do's at CVS
find their weekly ad early so you can plan your trip.  I can usally see the ad preview in the forums at  SlickDeals.net at least a week early.
Get a CVS card and always scan it twice when you first get to CVS- it will print off a string of assorted CVS coupons and is where I got the $2 off soap, the $5 off $30 and the $1.50 off today.
Match up the sales with coupons and try to do the ones with ECBs on products that are useful to your home.   
Keep up with the ECBs you earn and roll them into another sale the next week or 2. 

linking to the blog hop at Sunny Simple Life