frugal friday: Just Ask

was with my mom the other day and she had 2 coupons for board games. It was 5 dollars off a monopoly and connect four. Target had those on sale for 7 dollars. We got to target they had a few monopoly left but know connect four. Jenga was on sale also for the 7 dollars so she was going to ask if she could use it on that instead of connect four. I honestly wouldn't have done it but she did and they let her use it. She got 2 awesome games for less than 6 dollars!

check out the other frugal friday ideas and http://lifeasmom.com

supplying a gift closet on the cheap

We have a new kohls opening tomorrow and as usual they are having lots of sales. I received a card in the mail stating I can get 10 dollars off anything and there is no dollar limit. It got me to thinking that I need to start a gift closet.
The other day my mom got coupons in the paper that had 5.00 off of monopoly games and target had them on sale for 7, so that makes that game o I can go in there find something for ten dollars and stash it away for a bday or christmas and that is one less thing I have to buy later on. I want to try to pick up stuff on clearance and stuff from dollar stores.

for more works for me wednesday tips visit www.wearethatfamily.com

Stuffed Poblano Peppers!

I am trying to get my recipes from my old blog! Since I can't log in because gmail will not give me my account back because it was hacked on facebook. I have to go to the website and copy and paste everything! The original is from guy's big bite on the food network channel!

Here is one of my favorite recipes.

Stuffed Poblano's

8 Nice Sized Poblano's
3 links of mexican chorizo (near mexican cheese and tortilla's in fridge section)
1 clove of garlic sliced
1 onion
1 cup of rice
2 cups of chicken broth
2 tbs of olive oil
cheese

Preheat and oven and roast the poblanos on a pan on 350 for approximately 15 minutes.
Remove from oven and let cook, but keep oven on!

While that is started in a a deep pan with a lid start frying up your onions in olive oil until tender and translucent: Next add garlic and the chorizo (making sure you break up chorizo) cook about another five minutes and then add your rice and make sure it is thoroughly coated with oil. Add in your two cups of broth stir once and put your lid on the pan. Let cook on medium low for approximately 20 minutes until rice is done.

While the rice is cooking take out poblano's cut top off and remove seeds. As soon as rice is done stuff the poblano laying it down and cover top with cheese. Bake until cheese is melted about another 5 minutes or so!

mpm/ low calorie meals

I honestly do not know how to make menu out anymore. My husband has a lot of weight to lose and it almost seems like everything that really good for him is more than my budget will allow! Ugh, any ideas for any low cal inexpensive recipes would be greatly appreciated! I know we could do baked chicken breast, but chicken get old after a while!


monday: navy beans and ham
Tuesday: Black Bean burgers
Wednesday Baked Potato w/chili
Thursday: slow cooker jambalaya
Friday: Black Bean Soup

Frugal Friday! saving money on gifts

This saturday I have a birthday party for an 8 year old! I don't want anything expensive so what I am doing, my mom picked up these cute little purses for 1.99 then I am going to go to the dollar tree and pick up a couple of little things to go in it. It will be a nice little gift and it will be around 5 dollars!

Also check out stores like marshalls and tj maxx's they have some really nice stuff for cheap. I am a foodie and I like all kinds of stuff to cook with. They have all sorts of gourmet food , sauces and seasonings for next to nothing and you could create your own basket with that!

Gifts don't have to cost a thing, you can make homemade gifts. If you are a sewer, you can make a purse or quilt. If you are a baker you can make their favorite baked goods! Most importantly it is the thought and love that is behind it that counts! What are some of your gift Ideas, especially for teenager? for more frugal friday please visit www.lifeasmom.com

I have been wanting to get organized so that I could save some money! Well I want to direct you to this post on tip junkie. She list some awesome money saving tips and ideas on how to get yourself organized. I am going to have to take the time to create one of those binders myself!
http://www.tipjunkie.com/2010/03/money-saving-and-frugal-tips.html

Here is a really good money saving site! I also have more listed on my blogroll under frugality!

http://moneysavingmom.com/wp-content/w3tc/pgcache/moneysavingmom.com/

what about you? any sites that you enjoy that are not listed?

Works for me wednesday! Discount Bakery Specials!

Check your grocery stores rack for marked down pastry and breads. I went the other day ad Got a bag of pepperoni bread and a pack of 4 braided apple turnovers for 1.50 each. They were still as fresh but much cheaper. Also check your marked down meat. I got a skirt steak the other day for 3.00 everything else was 9.00 so did pretty well! I ended up shaving about 20.00 off my grocery budget the last week! I was pretty proud of myself!

for more works for me wednesday tips please visit www.wearethatfamily.com

Remember these / Spring Time Pasta Salad

My mom brought these over the other night when we had salad for dinner! These were before the real bacon bits! I am not a snob at most things, but I forgot how terrible and chemically tasting they were! love ya mom but not these! :) So here I am trying to redo my blog again from scratch, I am so upset that I lost everything and all of my subscribers !

My husband and I had financial trouble several years ago and we eventually got our finances back on track. We said we wouldn't have credit cards anymore, well I guess you should never say never. We have and we have now ended up back into a bad position again so I am going to have to really cut my grocery budget. I have been watching blogs and reading how people do it for a while but I guess I have not tried hard enough! This past week I managed to cut my grocery by 20.00. It is a small amount but it is a start.

The biggest thing I found was the reduced meat at the grocery store! I found skirt steak for 3.00 and lean beef for 1.99 a lb. I also stopped the other day and took a look at the reduced bakery section at walmart. I was able to pick up a bag of pepperoni rolls for 1.50 ad a bog of 4 apple strudels for 1.50 . They were still really fresh! I really want to start learning to use my coupons even though no grocery store doubles around here! I hope you stay along for the ride and help me along the way. I will have recipes and stories to share!

speaking of salad, now that spring time is just about here, here is my


Springtime Pasta Salad

1 pkg of cooked pasta (spaghetti, or rotini ) whatever you like
1 bell pepper chopped
1 onion chopped
1 or 2 tomatoes chopped
1/2 bottle to a whole bottle of italian dressing
parmesian cheese to taste
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and refridgerate . You could also add cucumbers or any favorite veggie.
Best Served Cold!

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Taco Soup
Tuesday Leftover Taco Soup
Wednesday: Corned Beef and Cabbage
Thursday: whatever is onsale or marked down at the grocery store!
Friday: "

I am just starting on a journey to lower my grocery bills so hopefully lots of post to come on that subject. I just hope you all stick around.

for hundreds more Menu Plan Mondays please visit

www.orgjunkie.com

Hello

Hi all, I am not new to blogging, but facebook was hacked and gmail wouldn't give me my account back so I am having to start all over new! So if you were following me on www.havingmycakeandeatingittoo.blogspot.com this is where I am now! First let me warn you all with gmail's system. If you have your email through gmail, be careful. If you are everhacked you will have to answer some of the most detailed questions in my life. If you can't answer most of them you are not getting your email back. One of the questions that was asked was what date did you sign up for gmail. This was over 5 years ago when you had to have an invite. I don't know about you, but I do not write all that info down. I am going to be back with a post about my family and learning how to save money on groceries!