I'm addicted.....

.....to Target's after-Christmas sale! Everything went 75% off yesterday!

I went 1st thing this morning, and for $32.68, I got:

car kit- (has rain-x, car wax, and about 4 other car care things)- 4.99

snowman cookie jar-3.74

hershey's bagged candy- after the target coupon, 0.19 a package!

toy set for Asher- 1.49

plastic silverware- .49

basket- 4.99

flower pot w/ 4 bulbs- 2.24

ornament- .49

stickers- .49 each

snowflake paper plates and napkins- .49 each

rubbermaid tree keeper bag- 2.50

pretzels- .50

tolietry bag for Brandon- 2.50
ornament kits for next year- 1.49 each

Kraft light cheese- 2.44 (I used the 4.50 manf. coupon and got overage!)

penguin plate- .74

No more Target for me this week! :)

Have a great New Years Eve! And, Go Pokes @ their bowl game today!

Another yum!

My mother-in-law found this recipe in the Dallas Morning News and we had it over Christmas! It makes alot and is really filling! Great w/ a salad and a glass of wine!
I'd recommend cutting it in 1/2, and for just Brandon and I, I might cut it in 1/4!

You can also make it lower in fat/calories by using light or fat-free sour cream, cheese and not as much butter.

King Ranch Casserole:
4-5 cups tortilla chips, crushed
2 tbsp. butter, melted
2 tsp. chicken flavored, soup based seasoning- can be powdered or cubed
4 chicken breasts, already cooked and chopped
2 10oz. jars of alfredo sauce (if there's a light version of this- get it!)
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups pico
12 oz. or grated mont.-jack cheese

Melt butter and mix w/ chicken seasoning. Mix everything together in a large bowl. Transfer to a greased (I use pam!) 9x13 pan. Cook @ 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes.

Easily serves 8-10 people

Recipe as is: 523 calories/per serving.

Yum!

These are in the oven right now. It's my Sunday to take snacks to Sunday School- these are so easy to make, and really really good!
(I found this recipe in Real Simple Magazine)

Quick Sticky Buns
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and thinly sliced into 10 pieces object
1/2 cup (2 ounces) pecans, chopped
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 7.5-ounce tube refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

Heat oven to 375° F.
Drop a piece of butter in the bottom of each of 10 compartments of a muffin tin.
Arrange the banana slices on top. Sprinkle the pecans and brown sugar over the bananas. Top each compartment with a biscuit. Bake until golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Place a baking sheet on top of the tin while the buns are still hot. Carefully flip the tin over, tapping the bottom to release the buns. Transfer to a platter. Serve warm.

Yield: Makes 10 buns

NUTRITION PER SERVING: CALORIES 147 (55% from fat); FAT 9g (sat 2g); SUGAR 7g; PROTEIN 2g; CHOLESTEROL 5mg; SODIUM 237mg; FIBER 1g; CARBOHYDRATE 17g

too old.....

Brandon is an usher in a friend's wedding this weekend- and they had the bachelor and bachelorette parties last night, the night before the wedding......
trust me- it's not a good idea.

I'm too old for this stuff! :)

Stockpiling.....

This, is my stockpile.

Stockpiling= a backup of items that you use, consume or will use in the future. It's a slow process that is build one item at a time, as a good coupon or sale comes along.

Stockpiling is a little overwhelming at 1st. Brandon didn't agree w/ it at the beginning, but when I was sick for a week and unable to go to the grocery store, and we didn't run out of food- he began to embrace the concept. :) Now, he thinks it's great- when we run out of something, he just goes and checks the stockpile. Rarely do we run out to the store to get just one thing anymore!

When we had that ice storm at the beginning of December, it saved our butts having a back-up of the stuff that spoiled in the fridge.

We keep the food stockpile items downstairs in part of a closet and on a shelf in the garage. The non-food stockpile is upstairs in the guest room closet. If you were to come over to our house, you wouldn't even notice. I never want it to take over our home or be too excessive. (look at HCW's stockpile photo thread, and you'll see some AMAZINGLY huge ones!)

Soooooo- right now, my big stockpile item is Huggies wipes and products. Now, we don't have kids yet, and we don't plan on TTC until next fall, but I researched it out- and wipes never go bad! Sooooo, my obsession began.

There is a target coupon for $3 off any 2 Huggies products. I've been getting 2 of the trial sized wipes for .97/each and have been making a $1 off each set since this deal came out. I've also used peelies (little coupons found on the actual product) to get the clean team products for $2 off.

So far I have:

75 trial size wipes

6 40 ct. wipes (these are 1.97 each)

2 hard tub lg. wipes

2 baby disposable washcloth packages

4 clean team bath mitts

2 2-in-1 clean team shampoos

2 clean team bath washes

1 clean team hand soap

all for FREE!!!!!! (actually, I've made over $15 off of these that I applied to Christmas gifts, etc!)

So, if you've been wanting to get into couponing, this Target deal is a great stockpile starter and just a great place to get started!

I also believe that you should donate 10% (like tithing) of the stockpile/free things you get. So, alot of these huggies wipes and other free food I get will go to the food bank and to those in need. Just imagine if everyone donated- how much better off we'd all be :)

2007......

Well, Allison finally talked me into creating a blog.

In July 2007, I stumbled onto http://www.hotcouponworld.com/ and my life changed :) I began couponing, and I've been addicted every since!

As of the end of November, I have saved $2,326.39 combining coupons w/ grocery store, Walgreens and Target sales.
Couponing is now a game to me- to see how much I've saved and how cheap I can get things.....

So, the purpose of this blog will be to share my coupon finds/deals and write about whatever else is going on around here! I'll probably post random recipes I like, random photos, and when we eventually have kiddos, hopefully I can use this to share their photos :)