Little Match Girl

Dessert: From morning til evening 1/30/2007

Dessert: Coffee cake with cinnamon crumb topping.

Supper: From morning til evening 1/30/2007

Supper: Angel Chicken Pasta and American blend beans with petite carrots.

Lunch: From morning til evening 1/30/2007

Lunchtime: Salmon Patties and a can of corn.  I make a few batches of salmon patties at a time and freeze small quantities in freezer bags so I can pop a few in my cast iron skillet when I need a quick lunch.

Breakfast: From morning til evening 1/30/2007

Breakfast: Quick Oats with a spoonful of brown sugar and a swirl of real maple syrup.  I add a splash of milk to the kid's oatmeal to make it creamy and to cool it down.

WIP 1/29/2007 Wire Fox Terrier

I would LOVE to post some pictures of how my little dog is coming along, but then my surprise would be ruined.  I can, though, post some lovely pictures of my sweet, fuzzy little model.

Here comes Mama, RUN!!!

I think I would've run away from myself today, too.  I noticed early on in the evening that the children were keeping their distance and watching me with wary eyes.  I think they were afraid of another tax-induced explosion.  After a solid two and a half hours of dealing with our state return, I broke down and ordered the program on-line.  It took literally less than 3 minutes to do once it was installed on our computer.  The children gave a big sigh of relief.  No more tax questions they couldn't answer.  I mean, really, who does know how I came up with negative numbers? 

Tonights meal: Meatloaf, ranch beans and garlic bread.  The wolves got to it again.

Organizing my coupons

Since I am off and running again regarding the clipping of the coupons, I decided to dust off my old coupon book.  It has paid for itself time and time again.  It is the couponizer (say that 3 times fast).   Mine is well worn and missing its back cover. 

Inside are pockets with categories such as baby items, canned goods, frozen foods, dining out, etc...  I figured it paid for itself within it's maiden month.

My only pet peeve was digging through each pocket to make a grocery list.  It only took me three years to figure out how to make a list of my current coupons.  So, as I stuff them in my couponizer, I also jot them down on my coupon list.

Now is when I let everyone know just how crazy I am.  I truly enjoy setting up systems and routines for myself that I know I will never be able to keep up with. I've come to embrace the joy I get from planning and shrug off the feelings of guilt that come with not following through with my own systems.  My newest system:  tracking the money I save on coupons on my Money program. Since today was my first day tracking, I have a "total savings" of thirty dollars and eleven cents.

Remember to ask me in a couple of months about how my coupon tracking system is going.  I'll bet five dollars my answer will be: "My coupon what?"

Cheap Thrills 1/26/2007 Cream Cheese

It doesn't take a lot to make my day.  Today it was exactly seventy cents worth of cream cheese.  I have a love/hate relationship with coupons.  I am currently loving them and clipping them like they are made of gold.  I had a thirty cents off coupon for Philadelphia cream cheese.  It was on sale for one dollar at my local grocery store.  I went in to buy one block of cream cheese and came out with eight!  The store was running an unadvertised special that if you bought eight "superbowl essentials", you would get an instant savings of seven dollars at checkout.  I quickly added it up: eight blocks of cream cheese at one dollar a piece - the seven dollars instant savings - my thirty cent coupon = eight blocks of cream cheese for seventy cents!  Woohoo! 

Yes, I know there are not eight blocks pictured, but I was having a challenging pyramid-making day. Those of you coming to Easter and the multitude of May birthdays will have to eat a ton of cheesecake this year!

Dinner eaten by wild animals!

You may be wondering, "What happened to the dinner photos?"  Wonder no longer, my friends.  Yes, we are eating dinner, but no, there are not any pictures to prove it.  Another question?  Sure, fire away.  "Why aren't there any pictures, is your camera broken?"  No, fortunately, my camera is just fine.  Luckily, it did not get eaten in the melee. What did happen is that I was in fear for my life over the past few evenings. 

Every night, just as I am pulling a hot, steaming tray of our supper out of the oven, I am greeted with a scene that is very similar to this:

Granted, a braver woman than I would fend them off long enough to snap a quick photo.  Sadly, I am not that courageous.  My survival instincts took over and I filled plates as quickly as I could, and watched my hard work disappear in a matter of seconds.

What was so tempting to drive them to this animalistic behavior?  A frozen pizza Monday night (yes, I wimped out), a beef and noodle casserole for Tuesdays meal, and a Pot Roast and Potatoes dish for tonight's entree.  You will just have to trust me that it was all delicious and looked good on a plate.  Tomorrow, I will brandish a whip as I snap pictures left and right.

Thank you to All about Wolves for todays photo.

Order Up! 1/20/2007

I admit the noodles could have doubled as shoelaces, but my family still gobbled up bowls of warm chicken and noodles.  I made a broth with garlic, onion, carrots, and Italian seasoning.  It makes such tender, flavorful chicken.  I know it wasn't a holiday, but I still couldn't resist making these rolls again. I put a little butter and brown sugar into the bottom of the muffin pans to give each roll a sweet glaze.  I will make it all again, but next time I will give my grandma's recipe another try. Bon Appetit!