Friday, April 30, 2010

We ate the whole thing!


These are the bare root strawberry plants we put in last week. They have all leafed out and are looking good! Hubby and I split our first ripe berry yesterday. It tasted like the berries I remembered when I was a kid. It was just enough to make us want lots and lots more. Can't wait!

                  

This is one bed of our two for the price of one tomatoes and they too are looking amazing. I don't know if the sale is still on, but we got 5 inch pots for the price of the small pots. They were healthy and vigirous looking. Come on, salsa!

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Fried Okra


Baked pork chops and fried okra was our supper last night...the okra came from our garden last year. I froze some of it cut up so when we want it fried all I have to do is take out however much I want, run some cold water over it, and put it in cornmeal seasoned with seasoning salt, black and cayenne pepper. Shake off some of the excess cornmeal and put it in a little hot oil seasoned with bacon drippings. Wow! The pork chops were about $4.00 - I lined a cookie sheet with foil, laid the chops on and seasoned them with garlic, salt and pepper. Bake at about 325 degrees until they are browned and falling apart. If they get done before you are ready to eat all you have to do is wrap them in foil to keep warm.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Number 1


We just found our very first strawberry of the year...we're hoping it's the first of many. In honor of the first one, I want to share a really good recipe for jam. No pectin is used and the berries are suspended in the jam. My dad used to make it and served it only with homemade bread. It does not make a lot, but the results are wonderful

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Pork Rules

What a nice surprise I got after I babysat Big Guy and Little Man yesterday! I got home and hubby had fired up the old grill...he had a side of ribs cooking that looked and smelled wonderful. He'd had them on about 4 hours and was getting ready to wrap them.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Personal Best


As of last night, I think I achieved my personal high of fat intake. Hubby wanted chicken livers again, so I deep fried them along with potatoes. They were $1.54 and I used about $.50 worth of potatoes, so cheap wins out again.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Time Flies...

when you are having fun. These last few rainy days have given me lots of time to spend on inside projects...including a huge pot of spaghetti we've been eating on. Hubby put a beef roast with vegetables in the slow cooker yesterday and it was really good. He used the last of the wine and lots of fresh garlic and after smelling it cook all afternoon we were ready to eat when it got done.

Little Man stayed with us over the weekend. We threw marshmallows in each other's mouth and had a very large time. I fixed him some coupon bacon and French toast sticks for breakfast. He likes to dip them in warm syrup and melted jelly. So does hubby.

My daughter gave me about 3 pounds of cheddar cheese and I made a big bowl of pimento cheese to snack on. Love those freebies! I shredded the cheese, added a jar of drained chopped pimentoes, salad dressing, a touch of Worcestershire sauce, a couple of spoons of olive juice, salt and pepper. We like olives on top and have been munching on that with pretzel crackers I got on sale with a coupon for $.50 a box.

Nobody has brought up THE QUESTION yet...but I'm sure we'll get around to discussing it soon.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

It's Official

The next full moon will be April 28, and we will finally get to plant our garden. Planting by the full moon may sound like an old wive's tale, but I'm an old wife and it really works. The garden seems to flourish a little better when we do that.


Fried chicken it was for supper last night, for less than $2.00. The chicken was $.47 lb., and the steamed veggies in sauce were $1.28 with a coupon. Pretty good for two people. We had those German chocolate cake balls for dessert. I really could have eaten the cake balls for dinner and left the chicken alone, but something about that is just not right.

Tonight, liver with bacon and onions.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

There Ought To Be A Law...

against cake balls. We went through the first batch like a swarm of locusts, so I got out my handy-dandy cake mix and frosting I got with a coupon at the first of the month...German chocolate with coconut pecan frosting. I mixed it all together and added some chopped toasted pecans. We've been really busy these past few days trying to get a room in our house redone and I was really sore and tired, so I shaped the cake mixture into balls and froze them.

Today, after a visit from Little Man, I decided to dip them and indulge myself. They are really, really good. Really good. When I make them again I might add a little toasted coconut with the pecans.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Herbs

We couldn't stand it any more...the weather has been beautiful and we went ahead and planted our herbs in the front yard bed. We're a little gun shy about putting the tomatoes in - there always seems to be a cold snap that sets them back, so we won't plant them until the end of the month.

The plants are really nice right now, basil and sage are my favorites. We also put in rosemary, oregano, dill and flat leaf parsley. They will produce throughout the summer and I keep the plants picked to encourage new growth. I have a dehydrator with several racks that I use to dry them and store them in glass jars. They will last a long, long time into next winter.

We've been painting the spare bedroom and doing a litttle spring cleaning so Hubby has been grilling dinner for us. Haven't decided what to have tonight, but I'm sure we'll come up with something. Hmmmm...chicken maybe.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Cheapo Hashbrown Casserole

We had hashbrown casserole last night...I got it all put together and ready for the oven early so we could spend some time outside. We kept thinking rain was coming in, but it never did. Back to the casserole...


I browned one pound of my $1.89 ground chuck, drained it and returned it to the pan. Next add a can of drained corn and two undiluted cans of  cream of "something" soup - I used cream of celery and cream of chicken. Stir to combine and add one package of hashbrowns with onion and peppers (coupon item) and mix all together.

Cover and refrigerate to bake later or bake at 350 degrees until potatoes are done and mixture is bubbly.


You can add cheese if you like. My cost: ground beef $1.89, corn $.49, 2 cans soup $.78, and hashbrowns $1.23 after coupon, for a total of $4.39. It was pretty tasty and we have enough left over for another meal.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Finally!


What a beautiful time of the year...the trees are beautiful and in full bloom. We have a new blueberry bush and three raspberrys...hopefully if my blackberries come off like they usually do, we'll have some mixed berry jam this year.

My daughter ordered us some strawberry plants but they haven't been shipped yet. We're going to try growing them in a hanging bag because our ground space is so short.

I put a link for the 918 coupon queen on my page. I'm really looking forward to benefitting from her detective work...she has lots of good strategies and hints and manages to find tons of specials.

Last night's dinner was fried chicken legs. The cost was $.94, I used about 2 pounds of my $.47 chicken quarters. With baked potatoes and steamed veggies, the meal was well under $3.00. I raided my never-ending supply of Jello and added a pound of sliced strawberries. The Redi-Whip I got with a coupon was delicious on top.


Friday, April 2, 2010

Groceries!

I finally got to the grocery store today. My totals from 3 different stores were $47.80, $39.87, and $25.89. I got a 9 pound butt portion ham, 10 pounds of 80/20 ground beef packed in five 2 pound packs, 20 pounds of chicken leg quarters, 2 pounds of bacon, 6 large pork steaks, 2 dozen eggs, bananas, 3 bags of cheese, and other assorted grocery items. The total came to $113.56, $16.56 of which was non-food items.

My coupons totaled $20.50, and I got 6 free cans of dog food and a free bottle of "Big Red" pop valued at $4.90.

Hubby just yelled...he was bagging the chicken leg quarters for me and found a whole chicken in one bag. That was a bonus! We bought quite a few frozen steam pack vegetables - I had coupons for all of them. The bacon was $2.68 per pound, but with my $1.00 off coupon on two packs, it came to $2.18 a pound. The one store that has the magic coins had barbecue sauce for $.29 with 7 magic coins plus it had a save at the register coupon for $.25, making the barbecue sauce a grand total of $.04. The free pop came with the purchase of 2 dozen eggs. I had a coupon for 1 free can of dog food which I got at one store, and a $3.00 off coupon on 5 cans at another store. The dog food was $.58 each for a total of $2.90 so I got it free.

We got two bags each of chicken legs, two bags each of thighs, the whole chicken, and 5 leg quarters which we are cooking on the grill tonight.

When we shop for groceries, we take a calculator and keep up with everything we put in the basket. I only buy what is on sale at a specific store. The non-food items I purchase at WalMart, and I usually have coupons for them. I buy fresh fruit that is in season or on sale. When I get potatoes, I can usually find a bag with a few of baking size in them. Right now onions are terribly high, but I had some in the refrigerator so I didn't get any. Shredded cheese is usually more expensive that block cheese, but today it was on sale and was cheaper the buying the whole block.

This probably won't carry us through the entire month, but it at least got us enough meat to last. We shouldn't have to buy anything for a while but bread and milk.

Have a happy Easter weekend!