February 29, 2012

Wordless-ish Wednesdays

Fact: My son is a crazy child! That is all.

February 28, 2012

Pies All Around

As everyday normally goes, I spend most of it wondering what I will make for dinner. I didn't really feel like cooking last night, so I made something a little bit on the easier side; chicken pot pies!

Basically just warm up a pan, throw in some cube chicken and brown it. Then throw in some mixed veggies, a can of cream of chicken soup (I used cream of broccoli since that's what we had), a little milk and some seasonings. Place it in an oven safe bowl (I used this foil bowls found at Walmart). Then I just cut the Pillsbury Grands Layer Biscuits in four pieces, laid some on top and popped it in the oven at 350 for 14-17 minutes (until they are golden brown). It was so easy and so good!


We had some left over so I decided to make a desert. I ended up making mini apple pies. All you need to do is follow and pie filling recipe, but I did this:

Preheat oven to 350

For the filling:
2 large baking apples sliced into small pieces
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 cup white all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Stir all those together. Then with a muffin tin, spray some pam or the like, use a grands layered biscuit for the outside. Grab one, cut it long ways (like a hamburger bun is sliced). Roll out it as big as you can (I got mine to the size of my palm), place it in the muffin tins. Next, fill the dough with a heaping pile of the mixture, place a small pad of butter on top and lay another piece of the other side of the biscuit on top.

Bake for 14-17 minutes, or until the top is golden brown (make sure it's completely golden or the bottoms of the 'lids' will be doughy).

February 27, 2012

Steals and Deals: Round 2


I found so many good deals that we would actually need, that I had to make another trip today! A lot of this isn't even with coupons; like the Propel, the various seasonings and the Suave Shampoo and Conditioner. The Propel was part of the buy 10, save $5 promo and the Suave was a buy 6, save $3 promo.

Worth $70, paid $22 (68% savings)
Propel Water - $1.49
On sale for $1.00
buy 10 get $5 off promo makes it $0.50
(no coupons, but I took up the good deal)
 
Brawny Paper Towels - $1.99
On sale for $1.49
$1/1 (doubled) facebook coupon = FREE
 
Suave - $1.39
On sale for $1.00
buy 10 get $5 off promo makes it $0.50
(no coupons, but I took up the good deal)
 
Belvita - $4.19
On sale for $2.99
$1/1 (doubled) = $0.99
 
Milk Bite Bars - $3.99
On sale for $2.49
$0.75/1 (doubled) = $1.49
 
Gerber Baby Yogurt - $3.19
On sale for $2.99
$0.65/1 (doubled) = $1.69

Philly Cooking Creme - $2.99
On sale for $2.49
$0.55/1 (doubled) = $1.39
 
  Various Seasonings - $1.99/$2.39
On clearance for $0.70/$0.94/$0.95
(no coupons, but I took up the good deal) 

Steals and Deals #11


Have I mentioned how much I love Albertsons when they have their TTV coupons? Well I will tell you again; I LOVE ALBERTSONS haha. This might be my best haul yet! Hopefully I can break it down for you because there is a lot to go over! They had this promotion where if you buy 10 items (there were a lot to choose from), you get $5 off instantly. I decided to go for the Quaker Chewy Bars and Propel. There was also a coupon I found for free milk when you buy three breakfast items.

Worth $146, Spent $38 (73% savings)

Cheerios - $4.69 
 On sale for $1.75
$0.50 (doubled) = $0.75 each

Reeses - $5.19
On sale for $1.75
$1/2 (doubled) = $0.75 each

Milk - $3.79
Coupon for milk when you buy 3 breakfast items
FREE

Brawny Paper Towels - $1.99
On sale for $1.49
$1/1 (doubled) facebook coupon = FREE
 
Belvita - $4.19
On sale for $2.99
$1/1 (doubled) = $0.99
 
Canned Goods - $1.15/$1.29/$1.35
On sale for $0.39
(no coupons, but I took up the good deal)
 
Milk Bite Bars - $3.99
On sale for $2.49
$0.75/1 (doubled) = $1.49

Philly Cooking Creme - $2.99
On sale for $2.49
$0.55/1 (doubled) = $1.39

Cake Mix - $2.69
On clearance for $1.34
(no coupons, but I took up the good deal)
 
Van's Waffles - $3.79
On sale for $2/79
$1/1 facebok coupon (doubled) = $0.89 each
 
Halls Cough Drops - $2.29 
On sale for Buy 1 Get 1 Free
$1/2 (doubled) = $0.29 for 2
 
  Various Seasonings - $1.99/$2.39
On clearance for $0.70/$0.94/$0.95
(no coupons, but I took up the good deal)

Quaker Chewy Bars - $3.79
On sale for $2.38
buy 10 get $5 off promo makes it $1.88
$1/2 (doubled) = $1.76 for 2

Propel Water - $1.49
On sale for $1.00
buy 10 get $5 off promo makes it $0.50
(no coupons, but I took up the good deal)

***As for the Roast - it was 13.94 but on sale for 11.15 PLUS it had a $3 off managers special on it, making it $8.15 AND you get a Country Crock side dish for FREE***

February 26, 2012

EIGHT Months

I usually don't post twice in a day, but I felt like I needed to tell the world that my son is EIGHT months old today. HOW in the world did he become so old already? I wish time would slow down. It really does fly though, let me tell you! He is doing so much now! He walks with his little walker, he can stand by himself for about .5 seconds. He crawls EVERYWHERE. Sometimes I will walk into the bathroom and I will here little banging noises behind me because he follows. It's so cute, but annoying sometimes haha. He gets into EVERYTHING as well. Mostly he likes to use the TV stand to stand up and chew on it, or chew on Martin's cat toys. He takes baths without his infant/baby bath tub. He loves bubble baths because it's something new and so he splashes around in those. He recently learned that if there is a box on the floor (like my husband's shoe box), he can push it over to where he wants it and stand on it to get higher; that is pretty awesome interesting. He can eat cheerios as snacks now, which helps money wise. He still loves his mum-mums and puffs though. I even gave him part of a banana the other day. I can't wait until we can try other foods. He is just doing all kinds of things now. Sometimes it's weird to think that he was this not so little tiny baby.

Chicken Sausage and Noodles


To answer your question, yes this does taste as good as it looks haha. What you see here is a mixture of homemade egg noodles (Reames Homestyle), some Chicken Sausage (Bistro Sensations: Spinach With Mozzarella) and some zucchini. I didn't really follow a recipe. I made the noodles as directed, while sautéing the sausage and zucchini in a bit of olive oil. After the noodles were done, I decided that it needed a little something because they were bland. I added some spices and chicken broth to the noodles, then thickened it up with flour. I think it worked out well. It was so good, I can't wait to make it again one day. Even if you don't make something like this (regular noodles would have been delish), then the chicken sausage alone is amazing. They have a few other 'flavors' as well. They may not sound that great (even though I think they do), but they compliment well. Highly recommended! I got the noodles at Safeway and the sausage at Walmart.

February 22, 2012

Wordless-ish Wednesdays

We finally got rid of his baby bath tub since he was too big... then we decided to add his baby wash to the water. He loved the bubbles and splashes now as well.

This is my green smoothie. It looks kind of bad, but it's only green from the lettuce. There are tons of recipes. FYI, you can't taste the lettuce if you do enough fruits. Maybe if I get used to them, i'll step out of the 'beginner smoothie' list. These have tons of benefits too!

February 21, 2012

Stuffed Peppers


I am not one to like peppers, so that is why I made yellow for myself and green for my husband. This picture is not of our dinner, but close enough! It was actually really good!

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground beef (I used turkey)
  • 1/2 cup uncooked long grain rice (I used brown)
  • 1 cup water
  • 6 bell peppers (I used green and yellow)
  • 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  • Italian or Mozzarella cheese
  • salt and pepper to taste 
  • Any other Italian seasonings (I just added oregano, cilantro and basil)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  2. Place the rice and water in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and cook 20 minutes. In a skillet over medium heat, cook the beef until evenly browned.
  3. Remove and discard the tops, seeds, and membranes of the bell peppers. Arrange peppers in a baking dish with the hollowed sides facing upward. (Slice the bottoms of the peppers if necessary so that they will stand upright.)
  4. In a bowl, mix the browned beef, cooked rice, 1 can tomato sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Spoon an equal amount of the mixture into each hollowed pepper. Mix the remaining tomato sauce and Italian seasoning in a bowl, and pour over the stuffed peppers.
  5. Bake 30-45 minutes, tightly covered with foil in the preheated oven, top with cheese and bake uncovered for an additional 10-15 minutes.

February 20, 2012

The Vow


I finally got to see this yesterday! I absolutely LOVED it too. I don't know if it was because I am married and a sap, or just because of the acting. I love Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum. I think they made a great pair too. I don't want to give anything away, so I wont say too much. If you haven't seen or anything, it's about how Rachel looses her memory and Channing has to basically make her fall in love again. My friend thought it was good, but not as great as she thought, but she still liked it. On the plus side, who doesn't like to see Channing Tatum ;) haha. If you love 'chick flicks' or love stories then I bet you will like this. Since I'm married, I can only imagine what it would be like if I lost my memory and didn't know my husband, or vice verse. However, it isn't all sad. There were surprisingly a lot of funny parts, which I am glad. I thought it was all serious and sad, but I am glad there were some humorous parts.

February 17, 2012

Chipotle Monterey Jack Chicken Sausage Wraps

I recently bought these Johnsonville Chipotle Monterey Jack Cheese Chicken Sausages a while back at the commissary (grocery store on the army post) because after coupon, they were only a dollar, which is really cheap compared to other stores. Anyway, I was trying to figure out what to do with them for dinner tonight, when I found this recipe on the front of the package. It's for wraps. I was a little skeptical because I have never put sausage in a tortilla before. Needless to say, it was delicious and my husband is having left overs for dinner tomorrow at work. They sounded spicy, but they actually weren't too bad. The spice was just right to me. I be the sausage would be good over rice as well.

Ingredients

  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 package (12 ounce) Johnsonville Chipotle Monterey Jack Cheese Chicken Sausage, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 5 flour tortillas warmed (any size would work, but I used the medium ones)
  • 2/3 cup refried beans (optional)
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
  • Shredded lettuce

Directions

  1. In a large skillet, saute the onion, pepper and corn in oil until tender. Stir in sausage and lemon juice; heat through. Spread 2 tablespoons refried beans over each tortilla. Spoon sausage mixture down the center of tortillas. Sprinkle with cheese and lettuce. Roll up tightly.

February 15, 2012

Valentine's Day

I hope everyone had a fantastic Valentine's Day! I hate people that bash on the day. Single or not, go give someone a hug, let them know what they mean to you. Even if it's a family member or pet! Don't be a Debbie Downer! haha. Mine was pretty good. I got to hang out with my monster all day since the Mr had to work. I slaved away in the kitchen as much as I could with Liam. Basically, that's where I was while he napped because otherwise he would get into everything. Let me tell you, I barely got to sit down. Every five seconds, Liam was crawling away, getting into something. I ended up making us homemade pizza for dinner (homemade crust and everything) as well as chocolate filled red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. However, those were not homemade. Although I wish they were! Both turned out pretty darn good.


Before dinner, I ended up giving Adam his gift when he got home. I know that typically, the women get spoiled, but I also wanted to show him how much I care for him. We both don't need one day to tell us that, but a little extra something is nice. Besides, it can be an excuse to pig out on sweets. I ended up making him a beer basket! Have you heard of World Market? That store is amazing! They have single bottle beers; smaller ones, that you can 'build your own six pack' with. I only got four, but I decorated the bottles to fit the type of beer. 'Ale for my favorite male' for a Stone IPA, ' you make my heart beat fast' for Turbodog ale, 'you warm my heart' for a winter ale, and 'you pick me up when i'm feeling blue' for Blue Heron. I thought they were pretty clever haha. Then I added things that you would have with beer. Hot wings flavored chips to knock out both chips and wings from a bar, candy, pretzels, gum (for the after), almonds (for the nuts)... just random stuff. I also added little notes to each, like his favorite was the one for the EXTRA gum because it said 'our love is long-lasting' haha. I also made him a card. I actually found it on pintrest and loved it so much, that I had to make it.


It took a little while, but this is what he got me for the day! A dozen long stemmed red roses! I have never gotten a dozen roses, so of course I love them. The bear is super soft and cute as well. My favorite part has to be the awesome vase! I need to figure out what to do with it once the roses are gone. They are already starting to smell strong! I walked by this morning and they smelled amazing. I'm lucky to have such an amazing husband.


Did you have a good day? Did you celebrate Valentines Day or was it just like any other day? Please share!

February 14, 2012

Happy Valentines Day!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day. I made Adam a little something, which I will post about tomorrow! Just a little heads up! Until then, I am off to spend today with my little one until the Mr. comes home from work.

I will leave you with what I did for Valentines Day last year here and here

February 13, 2012

Steals and Deals #10 (edited)

I went to Albertsons because they had their TTV coupons that double manufactured ones up to $1. At least I got some things we actually need, like the body wash! They also had a promotion where if you bought so many items of something, you got $1 or $2 off your next trip and even some free milk with certain items. I ended up getting $2 off (which was a catalina that I rolled on the next transaction) AND some free milk...TWO gallons free (up to $4.50 off). I know that all may be confusing.

First trip: $45 worth; spent $15 (66% savings)
 Kettle Chips - $3.79
On sale for 2/$6
$1/1 any bag (doubled) = $1 each

Caress Bodywash - $6.19
On sale for $4.33
$0.75/1 (doubled) = $2.83

Irish Spring Bodywash - $4.99
On sale for $3.49
$1/1 (doubled) = $1.49

Frosting - $3.99
On clearance for $1.99
(no coupons, but I took up the good deal)

Cake Mix - $2.69
On clearance for $1.34
(no coupons, but I took up the good deal)
 
Velveeta Skillet - $2.29
On sale for $1.99
$0.55/1 (doubled) = $0.89 each
 
Baby Food - $1.29 
On sale for 10/$10
$1/4 (doubled) = $2 for 4

Second trip: $77 worth; spent $25 (67$ savings or 70% if I include the milk)
 Cherrios - $4.99**
On sale for 2/$5
$1/2  (doubled) = $1.50 each

 Kix - $4.49**
On sale for 2/$5
$1/2  (doubled) = $1.50 each

Fiber One Bars - $4.39/$3.39**
On sale for $3.00
$1/2 (doubled) = $2 each

Brawny Paper Towels - $2.99
On sale for $0.99
$1/1 = FREE 

Brownie Mix - $2.59
On clearance for $1.00
(no coupons, but I took up the good deal)
 
Frosting - $3.99
On clearance for $1.99
(no coupons, but I took up the good deal)

Ban Deodorant - $3.59
On clearance for $1.79
$0.50/1 (doubled) = $0.79
 
Belvita - $4.19
On sale for $2.99
$1/1 (doubled) = $0.99
 
Aluminum Foil - $4.99
On clearance for $2.50

NY Steak - $6.01/$5.59
$2 off meat sale
$2/1 Managers Coupon = $4.01/$3.59
 
**Earned 2 gallons of free milk with the purchase of 4 general mills cereals and 4 fiber one bars**

February 11, 2012

Tattoo

Yesterday was good to me! I finally got my 4th tattoo that I have been itching to get for 2 years now. You can view my other three HERE. I have been trying to decide what to get to honor Liam. I always wanted to get tattoos for my children. Well, I finally figured it out. I had my artist (that did the 3rd tattoo) do a shamrock with the trinity celtic knot inside (which can mean numerous things, but to me means love or family like 'father, mother, child' type) and Liam's name. I love how it turned out but let me tell you, the very top part did hurt! It wasn't bad at all though, at least not as bad as I though. It's on my left wrist and I love the spot chosen.


Do you have any tattoos? Link up with me and share!!

February 9, 2012

Six Month Pictures

I know I have been writing a lot about Liam lately, but a lot has been happening with him lately. I think it's the fact that he's learning so much lately. Anyway, we got his six month pictures done a while back and we finally got them! They turned out so good, I am excited. I hope you all enjoy!


February 8, 2012

Wordless-ish Wednesdays


I love his toothy grin! It only took FOREVER to catch on my camera.

February 6, 2012

Date Night and Family Time

Friday night my husband and I went out on a 'date night' while my friend watched Liam. It was nice to get out, since the last time we had a night out was when Liam was about a month old. We didn't do too much; went to Outback Steakhouse and then on a walk. Outback was delish! We both got ribeye steaks, which were amazing. Mind you, the last time we ever went there (when we first got together), my husband ate my left overs. Needless to say, I am still upset to this day because it was the best burger I have ever had. Anyway, we definitely ate too much. We had a couple drinks as well, which was nice haha. After that, we walked around downtown since we ate too much. It was cold, but nice. It reminded me of how we were when we first got together! I vow that we should do a 'date night' at least once a month. It will be healthy for us. As much as I love Liam, we all need time alone every once in a blue moon.

On to Saturday; we did a little family adventure! We went downtown to the boardwalk. They remodeled it a while back and it looks so nice! We even put Liam on the new swing set (I was excited to see the new playground; what a little kid I am). He seemed to enjoy it, but I think the cold was getting to him. Which means, we didn't stay too long. It was nice to get out though because it was sunny for once. The fresh air was really nice as well. Of course I took a bunch of photos. I was excited to use my camera again; I have been neglecting it. I really do want to get back into my photography stage. I hope everyone else had a great weekend!

February 1, 2012

Wordless-ish Wednesdays

What happened?

Big Brown Eyes