The Weekend is Coming - Time for Pizza Hut and a Movie!

Greetings good friends! I love food from Pizza Hut, but even more than that, I love a great deal. I really wanted to pass this along today so you can enjoy this deal with the family over the weekend. What's better than FREE cheese breadsticks with ANY purchase?!? Check out the deal I got for a total of $3.81:

What you see here is three separate orders to feed three adults (or two adults and one big kid!!). There are three orders of breadsticks, two Aquafina waters, a 20 ounce Mountain Dew, a handful of peppermints, a handful of crushed red pepper and a handful of parmesan cheese. How did I get all this for $3.81 when ONE order of breadsticks alone is $5.99 plus tax?? When you register HERE on Pizza Hut's website to receive "Hut Lovers" email, they almost immediately send you a link to receive a FREE order of cheese breadsticks with ANY purchase. I signed up my husband, myself and my son. When you add a $1.00 bottle of water to your order, the grand total is $1.06 for the water and breadsticks. Now, I chose a Mountain Dew for one of my three orders, and it was $1.59 for a grand total of $1.69 for it and the breadsticks. So, really, had I ordered water for all three, I would only have been out of pocket $3.18. I suppose if you wanted to be REALLY frugal about it (which doesn't bother me at all), you could simply order a 50 cent cup of sauce, no worries. Keep in mind that you must LOG OFF Pizza Hut's website between orders and close that window. Click the link in your email to start the next order, and so on. Sign up for as many as you want, and simply tell them when you go to pick up the orders that you have separate orders. They gave me ZERO trouble at my nearest Pizza Hut, and the online ordering system was a breeze. I didn't have to pay until I picked it up, so NO entering card information online!! By the way, I chose "carryout", so I don't know if there is a minimum order amount for delivery or not. 

Now. After you have picked up dinner for the family on the cheap (you don't have to tell them, LOL), pick up a movie on the way back home. now through March 3, 2014, Redbox is offering up daily discounts on movie rentals. Text the word TEN of the word SURPRISE to 727272 each day through the 3rd to get a new code to be used at your nearest Redbox for that particular day. You may get a code to Rent One, Get One Free, a code for 50 cents off a rental or even a code for $1 off a game rental.

Pizza Hut and a movie sounds like a good time to me! Have a fun, frugal and fabulous evening, from our house to yours.

Free Stuff from ideeli.com!!!

If you did not get in on this yesterday, please take advantage of it today, through midnight tonight, eastern time. Click HERE to take advantage of a $10 credit AND free shipping on any order from ideeli.com for NEW customers. Simply enter the code GRPN10 at checkout, and change the little number in the "discounts applied" dropdown box to "1". Since there are still items for less than $10, this means FREE merchandise shipped to your door. Check out the FREE half slip that I have coming:

It was on sale for $9.99, marked down from $17.00, and at the time of this writing, this is still available in size XL. Several friends have already taken advantage of this deal as well, so HURRY! Please note: credit or debit card info IS required, but they do not charge you. I have checked my online banking stuff a couple of times since last night, and there is nothing fishy there thus far. This is a trustworthy site, folks. One account per person - - others get cancelled. Remember: if you see nothing you personally want, order something anyway and stash it in your gift closet. After all, it's FREE!!


Have a fun, frugal and fabulous day, from our house to yours!

It's a Tasty Thrifty Tuesday (yep, I'm a nerd!)

Good news: It's not Monday anymore. Yay! It seemed this evening that we had eaten meals that involved potatoes, corn and bread for like a week, and I was pretty tired of it. What was the antidote? Something SPICY!! So, searching through the cabinets I went.....think.....think.....oh yeah! Beans in the freezer, tortillas in the cabinet, rice, salsa, cheese...check, check, check. Everything came together nicely for a rice and bean burrito supper! Aside from my love for all things hot and spicy, this is a really cheap meal to have. For one, it is meatless. That alone makes it cheap. The ingredients I use are all very inexpensive, and are easy to keep on hand in the cabinet at all times. What did I use for my Rice and Bean Burritos?

From Dollar Tree:
10 ct. package of medium flour tortillas
8 ounce bag of "mexican shreds" shredded cheese
Jar of jalapeno slices (only used a a couple tablespoons)
Campbell's Traditional medium salsa (only used about a half cup)
Tortilla chips (just to crunch on between the soft burrito bites)

From Kroger:
Frozen leftover pinto beans (I always buy bags of dried beans and cook my own)
White rice (1 cup uncooked)
Taco seasoning (about 50 cents)

What I did: Thaw the recycled butter bowl full of beans in the microwave while the rice cooked on the stove. After the rice was done, I added 2/3 cup of water and the taco seasoning packet. I removed the beans from the microwave. Then, I scooped an icecream scoop of beans and two scoops of seasoned rice into the tortillas, tossed on about a tablespoon of shredded cheese and folded them up, placing them into a baking dish. Once it was full, I tossed a little more cheese on top and I baked it for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees - - just enough to allow the cheese to melt.

After you remove them from the oven, you can top them with a little salsa, cheese and peppers and they are delish! My guys love them too, despite the fact that they are huge meat eaters. These are very filling and actually make you feel as if you are eating something hearty and meaty. From the ingredients used, I still have plenty of tortilla chips, jalapenos, salsa, and rice left to use for other meals in the future. I estimate that I have about $3.50 in all ten tasty burritos. Try that Taco Bell!!!!! Your bean burrito is $1.09 for one burrito, which would mean ten of them would set me back $10.90 plus tax. By the way, Taco Bell, I may have picked up a couple of extra sauce packets the last time I visited with you. Here they are in the picture, heehee. They are in good hands.

Have a fun, frugal and fabulous Tuesday, from our house to yours!!

Monday frugal ramblings: Food, glorious food!

It's Monday!!!!! You know, the first five days after the weekend are really the hardest. After that, it's all good *wink, wink*. I have come across a variety of different good grocery deals at Kroger, Dollar Tree and Speedway lately. I have told you before about Kroger's Free Friday Downloads, and I am sure most of you take advantage if you live near a Kroger. IF you live near Kroger and DO NOT shop there, you can still get whatever free product they are offering each Friday since NO purchase is needed. Simply go in and get a free Kroger Plus Card and then register it on www.kroger.com. Then, each Friday, check the website for the featured free downloadable digital coupon. Click "load to card", and simply go to the store, find the item and check out as normal. The cost of the item will automatically be deducted using the downloaded coupon on your card! Another good reason to get a Kroger Plus Card and register it is the free coupons they send in the mail.  Between the paper coupons and the downloaded coupons, check out the FREE products I got this past week:

 These meal bars alone were $6.99 a box, had I purchased them!

I have told you before about Dollar Tree's RIBEYE STEAKS that were delicious. We stopped in and bought more and had those for supper tonight, along with mashed potatoes, corn and pasta salad (made with my free Zesty Italian salad dressing from Kroger). Not wanting to stop anywhere else besides Dollar Tree last night, AND wanting pop to drink, we decided to try DT's Stars and Stripes Mountain soda. It comes in a generously sized THREE liter bottle for a buck. I am not a Soda Snob by any means. We drink Save-a-Lot's brand, Walmart's brand and Kroger's brand of pop all the time; however, I had never tried this kind, and let's be honest: sometimes certain brands of pop taste a little "off". Was I pleasantly surprised? YES! "Mountain" pop tastes just like Mountain Dew. I am actually drinking some as I type this! And at a dollar for 3 liters, you just can't beat it.  When you go to Dollar Tree, here's what to look for:

On Sunday morning, I enjoyed a nice free breakfast consisting of one of my free South Beach meal bars (it was quite delicious - - NOT like "diet" food) and a free large coffee from Speedway. Knowing of my love for coffee, my husband had earned enough points with his Speedy Rewards card to get this for me.

Next time you go to your local Speedway, pick up a Speedy Rewards card. You earn points with each purchase you make, and these can be redeemed for all kinds of cool things.....or hot things like my Sunday morning coffee, haha.

Have a fun, frugal and fabulous Monday night, from our house to yours!

Saturday Mail Call

It's time for...

Saturday Mail Call!

Well, folks, it was a beautiful day and I took advantage of it. My poor clothesline had been feeling a little lonely for several months so I put it to work on this sunny February day. Why, yes...I do live in a subdivision! I am sure my neighbors don't mind! Seriously, though, I know the neighbors behind us don't mind. They have one too. I hope you all have enjoyed the day as well as I did! You know, it looks like my dear mailman has me well-stocked this week as far as reading material goes. As a matter of fact, that is ALL he brought me this week. Oh well, that's okay. It still softened the blow of the other things that came this week - - electric bill, insurance, mortgage, cable/tv/internet.....and on and on. The magazines that did come were really good ones:

The Red Bulletin ($12.00 per year on amazon.com)
Martha Stewart Weddings ($16.00 per issue on amazon.com)
Forbes ($29.95 per year on amazon.com)
Outdoor Life ($9.97 per year on amazon.com)
Martha Stewart Living ($28.00 per year on amazon.com)

If I had paid for these subscriptions, the grand total per year would have been $95.92!! Remember that newsstand prices are typically higher as well for single issues, so looking at it that way presents even MORE savings (if you can save on something that was free, haha). If you would like a subscription to The Red Bulletin for "exciting stories from the world of action, sports, music and culture", go HERE and complete a simple form. To get Martha Stewart Weddings OR Forbes, go HERE and complete the form provided by Rewards Gold. Please note that there are other titles available there as well. Neither Martha Stewart Living nor Outdoor Life are currently available for free. However, Outdoor Life was obtained from Value Mags. Several other nice titles are available from them, so visit their site!

Here's a hint: even if NONE of the magazine titles appeal to you, why not send someone else a subscription as a gift. Just fill in their name and address instead of yours as I have done for several of my family members. Magazine subscriptions are nice gifts. As Eddie once said, "Clark, that's the gift that keeps on giving the whole year!" But, I personally believe a magazine subscription would be a better gift than a membership to the Jelly of the Month Club. How about you?

Have a fun, frugal and fabulous weekend from our house to yours!

Walmart Super Shoe Deals (or, steals!)

Hello everybody and Happy Friday to all! I am a tightwad. Most people know this. I hate spending money on myself because I always feel like whatever I already have is good enough. I am certainly not without food clothing or shelter, ya know. So, for me to purchase SIX pair of shoes AT ONE TIME for myself is UNHEARD of. It is seriously like a sasquatch sighting, to be certain.

As I type this, my Walmart in Somerset, KY has their winter apparel and shoes on clearance. If the item is marked $7 or below, the cashier will ring them up for $2.00. If the item is marked $3 or below, it is only $1.00. I was able to get all six pair for $9.00 plus tax! Check it out:

L to R and going clockwise:

Tan faux suede "ugg" style boots. Regular price = $16.87 marked to $5. FINAL PRICE = $1.00

Cognac high heeled dress boots. Regular price = $25.87 marked to $7. FINAL PRICE = $2.00

Black biker boots with plaid lining. Regular price = $28.87 marked to $7. FINAL PRICE = $2.00

Black and purple with bow "ugg" style boots. Regular price torn off, marked to $3. FINAL PRICE = $1.00

Tan/gold faux suede moccasins. Regular price = $12.97 marked to $7. FINAL PRICE = $2.00

Pink faux fur slippers. Regular price = $4.97. FINAL PRICE = $1.00

Even if I don't count the value of the black and purple boot since I don't know the original cost, the total for the rest of the shoes is still $89.55!! So, I am willing to say that I got over a hundred dollars worth of shoes for $9.54 (tax included). I am one happy girl considering it is still February and I can wear all these NOW!!!

Call your Walmart ahead of time to find out if they are having a similar sale. I definitely need to now check out the clothes! If you find out that the same deals are going on, RUN to Walmart before it is all gone. And, remember - - - it is NOT too early to shop for Christmas presents, so ask your family and friends for their sizes before you go. I would personally love getting one of these pairs of boots under the tree. 

Have a fun, frugal and fabulous weekend, from our house to yours!

Fun and Thrifty Weekend Shopping

Well, today was a great day at church! Not only were Prentice, Peyton and I able to take a friend with us again today, but it was also Baptist Men's Day. The men of the church had some special music, and Prentice plus two others shared testimonies. Praise God! We have had a good weekend overall, and a fun, frugal one as well :) We have had Valentine's chocolates, cake, and plenty of food all weekend long here at home. We also went out to the mall and did a little shopping as a family. We found some great sales at Factory Connection, rue21 and Bath & Body Works. We all three ended up with cool stuff at Factory Connection, who has a great clearance sale right now! Plus, a LOT of their clearance is ALSO Buy 2, Get 1 FREE. There are some nice pieces starting at about $3, so you could get three pieces for $6 with the B2G1 sale combined with clearance.

The best deals we got were at Bath & Body Works and at rue21. For Bath and Body Works, there was a Facebook deal available on the 14th to get a full size bottle of Mad About You Diamond Shimmer Mist body spray with ANY purchase. Since all three of us here in our household have a Facebook account, I was able to print three coupons. What did we purchase to get the great full size body sprays? Three 50 cent hand sanitizer holders. The clerk even helped us find the products and was very friendly! At Rue 21, I spotted a rack at the entrance to the store that said "$1.00". I went in to browse the rack, and came out with two black/gray knit infinity scarves that were originally priced at $14.99 each for a buck each!!! All these things will make great additions to my gift closet. Behold:

AND, check out the receipts. I had three B&BW receipts, but I threw the other two away. I spent a TOTAL of $1.59 in Bath and Body Works to get (3) full size bottles of Mad About You Diamond Shimmer Mist, priced at $16.00 each and (3) Tie Dyed PocketBac holders at 50 cents. Like I said about rue21, I was able to score two Carbon black/gray knit infinity scarves that were originally priced at $14.99 each for only a dollar each! 

TOTAL VALUE of Bath & Body Works merchandise (before 6% sales tax) = $49.50. Our price (before 6% sales tax) = $1.50

TOTAL VALUE of rue21 merchandise (before 6% sales tax) = $29.98. Our price (before 6% sales tax) = $2.00 

Bath & Body Works tends to have some type of freebie or special about once a month. I suggest you Like and Follow THIS Facebook page to keep up with the deals. It is the Bath and Body Works Fans Society page, and will help you to stay in the know concerning coupons and deals. I know I keep promising a post on setting up a gift closet, but I must confess: my gift closet (actually my the whole guest bedroom that houses the gift closet) is out of order right now. It looks like it has been burglarized or vandalized or just plain messy-ized, and has been that way since I "shopped" it for Christmas (I know it's February now, LOL - - I have the door closed to that room). But, it served me well. I had enough stuff in there that we had festively wrapped boxes of presents and gift baskets galore for every member of the family and more! Go! Take an extra $5 or $10 with you and get a few things for birthdays or Christmas for this year! It is never too early to save some cash now and a lot of sanity later.

Have a fun, frugal and fabulous week, from our house to yours!

Saturday Mail Call

Guess what day it is?!?!? It's Saturday! Time for......

Saturday Mail Call

I am so sorry that I haven't posted in several days - - - six days actually. My computer has had some issues, and I have had a busy week at work. Although I blame my poor computer, I was actually the cause of its issues. It suffered injuries at my hands, sadly. A while back, it was sitting plugged in and charging on the arm of the loveseat when I carelessly knocked it off into the floor, bending the cord where it meets the computer. Now, it will barely stay in place, and must be at a precise angle and held in place with the assistance of a binder clip. I need to bite the bullet and get someone to look at the poor guy, but for now he is hanging in there. Oh, well, anyway.....what did my dear mailman bring me this week?? Behold the USPS bounty:

• Family Fun Magazine, Bloomberg Businessweek Magazine and Family Circle Magazine. Go to www.rewardsgold.com, www.freebizmag.com or www.valuemags.com to find subscriptions for your own magazines. Check back periodically for new titles.
• The book Revolution in World Missions by K.P. Yohannan. This international bestseller is currently listed for purchase on Amazon.com for $5.36 plus shipping. However, you can request a FREE copy from Gospel for Asia by completing a short form HERE!
• Purina Beneful 6 ounce bag of Healthy Smile dog food. I got this from Facebook, and it is difficult to tell if it is still available or not, as it tells me I have already requested it. I believe you can still get it, though. To see if you are able to request this, click HERE.
• Tums Freshers antacid sample, 2 count. This is no longer available, BUT heartburn sufferers never fear! Get a free sample of Prilosec by clicking HERE and completing a VERY short survey.
• Glacial Clay Spa facial mask in Arctic Cloudberry and Red Grape AND Two Maxwell House International Latte mixes in French Vanilla. These both came from www.pinchme.com. PINCHme is a site specifically for consumers to try new products and then provide short feedback about those products. Sign up HERE to be able to request samples when they are available. Samples are typically released on Tuesdays at noon eastern time. According to their site, the next group of samples will be released on February 18th at noon.
• Hada Labo Tokyo Skin Plumping gel cream with $3 off coupon. The coupons says the product is available at Walgreen's. This was a Facebook freebie found HERE. Their FB page says, "We are very excited about the requests to try Hada Labo Tokyo products! The next wave of samples will be sent in April. Submission period begins in March. Check back for updates! Samples are available while supplies last!" Like and follow the page now to be ready for samples next month.
• Coupon for up to $7.00 any Tena product. If you remember, I have received this before, so my hubby created an account to get another. Walmart sells a 20 count package of Tena Serenity pads for less than $5.00. Their coupon policy states that any overage will be applied to the "basket" or given to the customer in change, SO you can use this coupon to get free Tena pads PLUS about a dollar and seventy-something in change. Request one HERE, and request a free Trial Kit while you are on the site as well. It is available HERE.

Once again, I think I did very well this week! I hope everyone has a great weekend. Be sure to go to Sunday School and church tomorrow morning!

Yesterday's Freebie Shopping Trip

Happy Sunday! I hope everyone went to church today. We are blessed with so much that we should always remember to give thanks to the One who provides it - - God! Yesterday, the hubby and I went shopping. For many people, that involves going out on the town and spending a bunch of cash. For me, it represents the challenge and thrill of getting all I can for as little as I can. We went to five different places, and got freebies at every place except Dollar Tree. Oh, well. We only spent $5.30 there anyway! So what did we get and where did we get it?

Our first stop was Family Dollar. I had two $1.00 off coupons for Snausages Dog Treats. Family Dollar sells the 4.5 ounce bags for $1.00. So, we only had to pay tax for both bags of Snausages (12 cents). My "Good Guys"  (Puppy and Leonard) love these! Next, we went to Walmart since I had two $2.00 off any SeaPak product coupons. Walmart has these 6 ounce boxes of Shrimp Poppers (20 per box) for $1.96 each. So, not only did I get these two boxes of shrimp for free, but I got 8 cents change! This almost covered the tax on the Family Dollar Snausages! Unfortunately, they are all out of prints on coupons.com - - understandably quickly since these were both great deals on things we and others actually would have purchased anyway!

After enduring Wallyworld, we went for a bite to eat at Honey Baked Ham. I told you about the free Ham Classic sandwich for signing up for their email club. We stopped in to redeem ours, and decided to dine in. We were pleasantly surprised with our sandwich, chips and pickle! I know I have posted the link before a couple of times, but here it is again, just in case you haven't yet taken advantage of this tasty offer: Honey Baked Rewards Sign-up.

On our way home, we stopped at Kroger. Kroger had sent me a coupon for a free loaf of bread with a $10 purchase, plus I had loaded the Free Friday Download item, Dannon Oikos Yogurt, to my card. We spent around $50, got everything on our list, and ended up with these two freebies. If you shop at Kroger and don't take advantage of the surveys on the bottom of your receipt for 50 bonus fuel points (this is also why they sent me a coupon for bread), or if you've never downloaded any of the Free Friday Download items, then you are missing out. Go over to Kroger.com and check it out!

 

Since we have to go out anyway to get groceries and household items, it always makes it nicer to be able to get a few freebies as well. Have a fun, frugal and fabulous evening, from our house to yours!

Saturday Mail Call

You know what today is, right? It's Saturday!!! That means it's time for another...

Saturday Mail Call!

Weather-wise, it has been a week of ups and downs, but my mailman never disappoints! Here is the bounty from the ol' mailbox for this week:

And what do we have here?!? Starting at the bottom, left hand corner and going clock-wise:

• Emergen-C Vitamin C Super Orange Fizzy Drink mix & Immune + with Vitamin D Citrus Fizzy Drink mix with a $1.00 off coupon toward a purchase. Get yours by clicking HERE and completing a short form.
• Finish Quantum Power & Free Dishwasher Capsules, 2 pack with 75 cents off coupon toward a purchase. If you don't have a dish washer, get the sample for someone who does! Click HERE to get the form.
• Christian Paperback Book - No Longer a Slumdog by K.P. Yohannan. This book received five stars from those who reviewed it on amazon.com, where it is currently listed for sale at $12.67. However, you can get it free by visiting the Gospel for Asia website by clicking HERE
• "Fandemonium" #18 Interstate Battery NASCAR 2014 calendar. EXPIRED OFFER, unfortunately. They give one out every year, so remember to check back around late autumn.
• Royal Canin Adult Persian Cat food, 12 ounce bag. I was surprised at the size of this bag. It totally filled my mailbox, and came with a coupon as well. I don't remember the coupon's value because I accidentally threw it away, haha. I am sorry to say that this, too, is expired; HOWEVER, you can still get something FREE and nice for kitty or puppy by clicking HERE to receive a free Pet Safety Pack from the ASPCA. It includes a pet rescue window decal and an ASPCA Animal Poison Control center Magnet.
• Equate Feminine Wellness Sample pack. The free sample is no longer available, as it took them from November until this week to get it to me. However, you can get a $1.00 off coupon HERE.
• Total of four magazines: Good Housekeeping, Bloomberg Businessweek, Martha Stewart Weddings and Town & Country. Choose from many good magazines by visiting ValueMags, Rewards Gold, or FreeBizMag.

Let me know what you've received by commenting below! Have a fun, frugal and fabulous week, from our house to yours.

The weekend is here - - MORE cheap and free restaurant deals!

About a month ago, I did a post devoted to all the food you can get for free just by signing up and printing out a coupon for it. If you missed out on that, see it again by clicking HERE to read about how to get a free Fazoli's spaghetti dinner, free Penn Station sub and more! Last night, I did a little more research, and I was able to come up with a couple more totally free offers and some "kids eat free" or cheap offers. It is my pleasure to share these with you!

I will go ahead and start with the TOTALLY FREE offer from Honey Baked Ham. Click HERE to join Honey Baked rewards and receive a FREE Ham Classic Sandwich. It took about 12 hours for it to show up in my email. Please note that the coupon expires TWO WEEKS from the date you receive it, so do not request it until close to the time you know you will be near a Honey Baked Ham restaurant. I signed my hubby up as well. I'll go ahead and say this because you know I am cheap anyway: march right in there with your free sammy coupon, order ice water and sit right there and eat lunch totally free. Do the same with Fazoli's and Penn station as well. The employees don't mind - - they're probably broke too like everybody else!!

Also TOTALLY FREE - - - Waffle House: Have a Waffle House nearby? My closest one is about 40 minutes away, so I might not make there before this coupon expires on the 14th. BUT, click HERE to print a coupon for a totally FREE waffle of any variety. Since it says one per person, print one for each member of your family. I didn't see any age restrictions or purchase requirements, so go for it. Like I said before, go, eat in, order ice water (better for you than pop anyway!) and you have a completely free meal.

Gold Star Chili:  Kids 12 and under can join the Gold Star Chili Kids Club to receive a FREE Kids Meal on their birthday. They will also be automatically registered to win in the Monthly Kids Club Prize Drawing! Every Tuesday night is Kids Night at Gold Star Chili! Kids 12 and under eat FREE from the Gold Star Chili Kids Menu with an accompanying adult combo meal purchase.  They also said on the website, "We’ll send your child an email good for a FREE cheese Coney just for joining." Go on over to their website now by clicking HERE to sign up!

Bob Evans:  Tuesday night is Family night at Bob Evans. Receive one free kids meal per each adult meal purchased between 4 pm and closing (Somerset, KY location - - please verify for other locations prior to going).

Firehouse Subs: Kids 12 and under eat free on Wednesdays from 4 to 9 pm with the purchase of an adult meal (one kids meal per adult meal purchased). Also don't forget - - go to Firehouse Subs on your BIRTHDAY, show them an ID with your DOB and receive a free sub!

Tumbleweed Tex Mex Grill:  Kids 12 and under eat FREE on Sundays! Make Sunday a family night out! Round up the kids and dine in at Tumbleweed to receive a free kid's meal (from the Kids Menu) for every adult entrée purchased. 

For restaurants not listed here, just ask them.  Also, inquire about e-clubs. They often yield freebies - - even if the offer is not there when you first sign up.  I signed up for the Sonny's BBQ "Q Crew" several months ago, and didn't receive an offer in my email until two days ago. The offer was a free pork sandwich (no purchase required) if I simply go in and update my Q Crew profile. All that consisted of was re-entering my name, address, etc. It must be only for existing members, because i tried to find a way for you to do it and could not. Alas........stay vigilant, readers!

Have a fun, frugal and fabulous Friday, from our house to yours!

"Hey Grandpa, What's for Supper?" Turkey Casserole...

I suppose I could have entitled this post "Turkey Leftovers Part II", considering my post several weeks back on Turkey Pot Pie. If you're looking for a super easy and tasty way to use up some leftover chicken or turkey, you have landed on the bulls-eye! On Saturday night, I baked a turkey. We ate a little of it but ultimately decided to cover it and put it in the fridge to have after church the next day. We went to church. We came home. Then, we ate......and ate and ate through Sunday lunch and supper as well as Monday lunch and supper. The hubby and I both took turkey, dressing, gravy and the other usual suspects to work today for lunch and we STILL had some leftovers lurking in the fridge. Puppy and Leonard even enjoyed some, of course. Now, I frown on wasting food, or anything else for that matter...so I had to use up the rest of this ol' bird (he could have been young, though....or "he" could have been a "she"...but I digress). To me, leftovers are the epitome of frugality PLUS they pose a challenge to my creativity that I actually appreciate.

Peering into the fridge, I remembered that I had run out of flour the other night making little muffin-tin pizzas. Darn. That put a damper on my plans until I saw the bag of corn meal hanging out patiently, beckoning me to pick it up. Sure - - why not. And so began my new "recipe": turkey casserole. I didn't think of taking a picture until I had dumped a big scoop of casserole and an even bigger scoop of cranberry sauce onto my plate a bit haphazardly. I could have staged it better for a prettier picture, I guess, but you'll get the idea. With its delicious cornbread crust, doesn't it look yummy?

Turkey Casserole

First, preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9 by 13 pan (I used glass).  Then, mix up some cornbread batter:  2 to 2 1/2 cups cornmeal and 1 egg, plus enough milk to make it "mushy" and enough water to make the mixture pourable. Next, in another bowl add the following and mix together :

Can of creamed corn ( I felt like the "cream" in the creamed corn probably kept it moist

Can of green beans

About 2 cups of leftover turkey, cubed

About 1 cup leftover stuffing

Now, pour only enough of the cornbread batter on the bottom of the pan to cover it. Add turkey / veggie mixture and cover with remaining cornbread batter. Bake for 45 minutes. After I removed mine from the oven, I poured the leftover turkey gravy (had about 1/2 cup, which I watered down to make 3/4 cup so it would pour easier) over the top of the whole thing. 

I served my Turkey Casserole with a simple lettuce & cheese salad, cranberry sauce and rolls. And guess what........we still have a half a pan left!!!!!! It's like a miracle turkey or something. "Clark, that's the gift that keeps on giving..." To freeze or not to freeze? That, dear readers, is the question. I did find a really neat illustration on The Culinary Chase that humorously illustrates the various areas on a turkey that makes for the best leftover uses. Check it out:

Of course, I didn't use the "suggested" cut of meat for my recipe. For tonight's casserole, I went with the "anything goes" approach. Meat was flying (pun INTENDED) into the bowl from wings, legs, back and anywhere else from whence I could scrape it. The final verdict: Hubby said, "That's good, babe!" (usually won't eat the dark meat) and cleaned his heaped-up plate. Son said, "Yeah, Mom it was fine" and chased it with a Hershey bar, chips and popcorn. Personally, I don't know if I can handle any more turkey for a few more weeks, so tomorrow might be a Hamburger Helper night on Ridgewood Circle.

Have a fun, frugal and fabulous night, from our house to yours!

Pottery Barn-inspired on the Cheap

Good Monday evening, folks! One work day down for the week and four more to go. Yesterday I shared a primitive Dollar Tree craft with you, so this evening, I thought I would share one that would fit in with other types of decor: a Pottery Barn knockoff. Pottery Barn has some beautiful glass apothecary jars, but be prepared to open your wallet a little wider if you want to add one to your collection. The "PB Classic Glass Apothecary Jar" is not only "modeled after those used for centuries to store dried herbs" but is also "hand blown by talented artisans in Poland". I do send my regards to the (exhausted, I'm sure) Polish glass blowers who worked really hard to perfect their craft; however, I don't feel the need to blow (no pun intended, actually) a few hours' pay to buy the "classic" glass apothecary jar when I can re-create a similar one for a couple of bucks.

On Pottery Barn's website, you can choose from various sizes ranging from 14.5 to 27 inches tall, cylindrical or round, $29 - $69 (?!?!). Here's a pic of the cylindrical ones:

$29.00 - $69.00

Now, my creations (hate to call it that since they literally took about 30 seconds to glue together, LOL). ranged from 11 to 14 inches in height, so I will consider them to be "small", or similar to the dimensions of the "small" PB version. Here is mine:

$2.12 + a few cents for adhesive

I know, I know......the now breathless Polish artisans took the time to create a lid. Mine do not have lids, but I am fine with that. If I really wanted to, I could come up with something for that purpose. Anyway, what did I use to "create" these knockoffs? Three things:

Dollar Tree glass vase (buck + tax). They carry all different shapes and sizes.

Dollar Tree glass candle holder (buck + tax)

Amazing Goop brand Craft Adhesive (about $3.50 + tax from Wallyworld)

   

It really is as simple as scraping the label from the bottom of the vase, applying plenty of adhesive and sticking the two pieces together. Be sure to let them dry for a couple of days or they will fall apart. So, by making these yourself, you save serious cash PLUS help to save a few Polish glass blowers some breath. Win-win all the way around!

Have a fun, frugal and fabulous day, from our house to yours!

Primitive Crafts....from Dollar Tree? Sure!

Anybody who knows me also knows that I do not like to spend money on my craft supplies. If I am inclined to spend money to make something, it has to be cheap. That is but one reason I love the Dollar Tree and Mighty Dollar. While perusing the web recently, I came upon a blog that had SUCH cute things that the lady had made using Dollar Tree materials. Her blog, called Eyeballs by Day, Crafts by Night (find it HERE), is great and the craft ideas are easy. So....the family and I spent this past wild Friday night getting free Dunkin' Donuts drinks and shopping at Dollar Tree. We are just loose cannons that way, you know.

I love anything old, old-looking, crafty, cozy, shabby, cast-off........whatever. I don't have any one particular style. I just pick what I like. That includes primitive stuff which is so popular right now. Dollar Tree has a really good selection of things that are already nice, but have potential to be better. I love candles, and it seems that we always have one burning, and the other blog had some nice ideas on how to make DT's cheap looking candles match country or primitive decor. In my excitement to get started, I forgot to take a before picture of the products, so I pulled these from the Dollar Tree website. Check out the before:

  

I was only able to find one package of the LED tealights, so they may be seasonal with the ones I found being stragglers left from Christmas. They had plenty of the 8" white jar candles, though. The idea was to "grubby" these things up....make them look old and primitive. The lady in the other blog used something called Texture Fierro to get the grubby, textured look. However, I am always one to substitute and use up things I already have; therefore, I thought I would try mixing up some white glue and used coffee grounds. After mixing into a paste, I spread it onto the jar candle as well as the body of the tealights (bulb was taped with masking tape so as not to mess it up). After that dried (took about 2 1/2 hours with the help of a blow dryer), I squirted on some acrylic craft paint in cinnamon brown, and spread it around gently with a mildly stiff paint brush. Throughout the drying process, the paint / coffee grounds / glue kept trying to run down the sides of the jar. I simply used to brush to dab it back into place. This is a messy craft and I had cardboard on the kitchen counter underneath it, BUT this is how they looked after the paint was about half dry (ignore the clothespins......still working on that project):

And, THIS is how they turned out when complete and after a second coat of paint and a bit of torn fabric for a ribbon (the woman in the other blog calls the ribbon "homespun"):

Cute, huh? That candle is not only cheap, but it is supposed to burn for 80 hours. Also, for those who are allergic to certain scents, it is unscented! Yep - - that's a little bit of Dollar Tree potpourri you see there surrounding the little LED tealight in the cast iron skillet. I am inspired now to make more of these for gifts. I I might even dry brush a little black paint on the next ones I make just to make them a little "grubbier". Acrylic craft paint is cheap, white glue is cheap and used coffee grounds are free. There are only 325 more days until Christmas, our Lord and Savior's birthday, so I hope you're inspired! Making gifts a dollar at a time is not only better for the budget, but you are prepared and stress-free by the time it rolls around.

Have a fun, frugal and fabulous Sunday, from our house to yours!

Saturday Mail Call

It's time again for....Saturday Mail Call! 

I was pleasantly surprised when I went outside to check the mailbox today. It feels like an early spring day out there. It is quite the departure from the single digit and negative digit days we have been having lately......knock on a big piece of wood! Let's pray the worst is over.

So, how did I make out this week, freebie-wise? Pretty well, I do believe.

Mailbox contents for this week:

1. Five magazines:  Forbes, Bloomberg Businessweek, Tennis, Men's Journal and Field & Stream. For your own FREE magazine subscriptions, try one of these: Freebizmag, Rewards Gold or ValueMags. Each of these magazines came from one of those sources. I like to use magazines not only to read, but also to share with others, tear out the pages as packing material for Christmas decorations, start fires in the fire pit, etc. I have even been eyeballing those baskets made from rolled magazine pages........maybe a future craft project, huh?
2. Depend Undergarments Sample Pack with coupon for women. Even if you are unable to use these, you might know someone who can. These undergarments can be really expensive for those who need them and have to purchase them on a regular basis. I will put these with the Tena pads I got at Wallyworld yesterday for free + $1.73 moneymaker and await a future use. They are still available HERE. 
3. Metamucil 2-pack Sugar Free Orange Smoothie Singles with coupon. This was a freebie from Walmart's website, and is still available by going HERE.
4. Dreambaby Sliding Lock and Safety Catch kits. These kits are available from Procter & Gamble by clicking HERE. Note that if you want enough to do a whole kitchen or whatever room you need them for, requests are accepted PER EMAIL ADDRESS (My husband and I have several email addresses). So, basically, you can have several kits shipped to the same postal address as long as you register with different email addresses for each kit. Again, even if you don't need them, think of what a nice baby shower gift this would make (don't get insulted if YOU end up with them LOL)
5. FREE 16.9 oz Aquafina FlavorSplash water coupon. Unfortunately, this was a Facebook freebie and is no longer available.
6. FREE medium beverage from Dunkin Donuts for the hubster's birthday, which was actually January 20th. We had three DD free beverage coupons last night (my b-day, his b-day and a newspaper coupon clipping), so we went to Dunkin Donuts after supper. My hubby and son got hot chocolate and I got a Hazelnut Iced Coffee. They were yummy. I mentioned yesterday how to sign up for this, but here it is again in case you missed it: DD Perks Rewards Program. 
7. Faux Pearl Earrings from Daily Sale. This is a website that has a different group of deals each day, usually cheaply priced cool gadgets. They occasionally list freebies (with free shipping) for new customers, but I am not sure when the next offer will occur. Feel free to check out their website HERE, but don't register unless you plan to buy something. Save the registration for the next freebie, since they are only given to new customers! Imagine how these little earrings will look after placed into a jewelry gift box (available in a 3 pack from Dollar Tree, of course). Another nice item for my gift closet (once again, if you get these from me, keep in mind that they are nice enough that I would wear them, but I already have a pair - - hehehe)!!

What are you waiting for? In case you haven't had a chance to check them out, the primary sources for my freebies are Hip2Save, Free Stuff Finder, Free Stuff Times and Free Product Samples. Get going to these websites and soon your mailbox will be brimming with goodies. Sure does soften the blow of the bills that also (sadly) come from the mailbox. I hope everyone has a blessed weekend. Be sure to attend church tomorrow.

Have a fun, frugal and fabulous day, from our house to yours.