How to beautify the outdoors on a budget

I am a big fan of flowers and trying to make the outside of my house look nice, but that can really get expensive.  I do have a few tips for making things look nice and not spending a ton of money.
1. Plant perennials, they come back every year and many of them will multiply.
2. thin out the ones that multiply and fill in where you want more.
3. Talk to friends often times they are willing to thin out their perennials, so you get them for free (or by exchanging some of your own)
4 Buy your perennials in the fall when they go on sale and plant them then, they will be up by the next spring and you will save a bundle.
  
   One thing we are doing this ear is we are putting lattice work up to keep animals out from under out deck, we bought everything last fall when all that kind of stuff was on sale, we unfortunately didn't get it up so we have to do it now, then we will watch sales for the kinds of shrubbery that we want. 
I personally enjoy doing landscaping and my so does my husband so now it's just matter of making it all work within my budget.

Happy Plantings!

Party Party Party

I know that many frugal people think that just purchasing the cheapest thing is the way to go, I don't think this true at all.  I do also know that buying the more expensive items the first time can be a strain on the budget but I have found my way around it, at least for certain items.  Mostly Home party items

Example #1 Tupperware.  Yes I bye the less expensive stuff to take on picnics and for my hubby to take to work but Tupperware some unique items as well.  OK this where you say Tupperware is expensive and I can bye 2 things of the cheap stuff for the price of 1 Tupperware.  True! But Tupperware is 100% guaranteed for life so you will never have to buy it again. Also if they no longer make that item they will give you the next closest thing...which tends to be newer and better.

Example #2 is Mary Kay  I find that their products are superior to cover girl and last longer.  Yes more expensive, but if you order something and you are not happy you can return it, not something Walmart will let you do.  I returned some mascara just last fall and they sent me a new one.

OK so in the long run there are savings, but how do find the money to buy the more expensive stuff?  Easy Have a Party!  Hostesses get great bargains.  Often free items, major discounts, and future coupons. I got $75 worth of Mary Kay last year for $15.  And No hosting the Party didn't eat the difference.  I had it on Saturday afternoon, made a few small snacks and some fruit punch.  It cost me maybe $10. And it gives a stay at home Mom a chance to have some adult time.  This works for Tupperware, Mischa Bags, anything that is sold at Home parties.

I do have one bit of advice and that is to NOT overdue it.  Please don't become the person that has a party every weekend, your friends will stop coming. I have 1 Mary Kay party a year, this year I will have a Tupperware party, and possible a Wildtree party.  Just 2 or 3 is enough, you don't want your friends to feel like they HAVE to spend money either.

I hope that everyone takes advantage of this little tip and has a party it's fun!

Easy Chicken Nuggets

It has been a while since I posted a recipe so here it goes.
 Braxton and I made Chicken nuggets today by hand. Even though he had eaten already so we froze them for a later date.

 4 pieces of whole wheat bread that I dried on the counter overnight
 1 chicken breast (about 3/4 lb)
 2 TBLS of Italian seasoning
 2 TBLS of Kraft grated Parmesan cheese

. I started with 1 chicken breast because I was experimenting, Next time i will do a few more. which will call for upping all of the ingredients of coarse


I took the 4 pieces of bread ran them through the food processor to turn them into fine crumbs, I added the Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese an mixed it all together.

Cut the chicken into whatever size pieces you choose and soak in milk for 5 min I put the bread crumbs in a bag then added the chicken so Braxton could shake it up. Baked at 400* for about 15 min. Let them cool for about 15min then stuck the whole pan in the freezer. Once they are frozen I will put them in a bag.
 
I ended up with probably 20 chicken nuggets in a bite size pieces.
 
I can't wait to see how they turn out when I reheat them for a meal. 

I know it's been a while

I really haven't forgotten about my Blogs I just have been crazy busy with the holidays, and all the colds that have been running through this house. I decided today would be a great day to talk about freebies and deal sites again.  I know I did this not all that long ago but some new ones have brought to may attention lately.  I also have a few tips too. First of all when you sign up for freebies most sites require a valid E-mail, these will often generate multiple e-mails by multiple companies so I advise that you create a separate E-mail account through Yahoo or Hotmail just to use for these types of e-mails.  I scan mine about once a week and delete them. I also advise that share these things with your friends.  I have a great friend who has 3 little ones and is always looking for a bargain so her and I share blogs and sites with each other all the time.  Friends are THE BEST!
Here is one of favorite new sites to watch. I subscribe to her FB page http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fcouponlovinmom.com%2F&h=9a934 I have also started to follow livefabuLESS.com both help you pair coupons to sales and post freebies to their sites.  you can also find LiveFabuless on Facebook. If you don't have Facebook or don't want them filling up your Facebook page then just subscribe to them to be sent to your E-Mail. 
And while I am here I will share my Deal of the Week.  My local Piggly Wiggly store had Colgate toothpaste on sale for $0.99 I paired it with a $0.75 coupon and got a tube of toothpaste for $0.24 WOOT!!

OK all happy Blogging and I hope to be back more often now that the holidays are over.

Deal of the week

I usually get really excited when I can pair coupons with great deals so I get things for free or close to it. Well my deal of the week, maybe even month wasn't free but it was a GREAT DEAL!  I was at Sam's club (which I really wish would take coupons) and I found the little area where they put the damaged items. Normally there isn't too much there as they don't really get returns, or it's damaged food bags which I tend to stay away from.  Well, yesterday was an exception to this, I found a 301oz box of Tide for $14.02!  Why so cheap you ask?  Because where the handle attaches to the Box was ripped and had to be taped!  I think I was more excited about this than I was about the free samples of Cheesecake!

OK I just had to share this to remind people, to check out clearances aisles, and damaged areas, you might be surprised by what you find!

potato soup

One of my favorite things about fall is soups and stews, also with soup season also comes the sales on potatoes and vegetables.  2  weeks ago our local grocery store had 10lb bags of potatoes for $2.99 which is about $2 off.  They also had Large ham butt portions for $0.99 lb which is great because I get about 6 meals out of a 8lb chunk of meat.  This last week they had 2lb packages of celery and carrots for $0.99 each.  Well once I had the am cut apart and frozen I was left with a HUGE ham bone so I stuck it in the freezer so I could make potato soup, and Yesterday was the day I took it out to use. 

Potato Soup
1 large ham bone
2lbs of potatoes peeled and chopped (large pieces)
2 stalks of celery diced
3 carrots diced
1 med Onion diced
1/2 gallon of whole milk

I put the Ham bone in water(just enough to cover) and boil for about 2 hours, after 2 hours I add potatoes and the rest of the veggies. once the potatoes are cooked (45 min or so) remove the ham bone and remove pan from heat for about 15 min then I add the milk.  Don't dump it all in at once add and stir as you go because you may not need it all.  Put soup back on the heat on low until it is warmed through again then serve.  Sometimes I will add extra ham to it, if that is something you want I recommend adding the chopped ham when you add the veggies.

All in all this is one of my favorite soups and ultimately one of the Least expensive to make.

Applesauce

For all my food lovers out there this is by far the easiest and healthiest thing that I do. 

I Live in Apple country, we have a town about 15 miles from me that is the Apple capitol of WI, and has about 12 orchards in a 5 mile stretch of road, not to mention all the small ones around the town too.

Well I have always been a big fan of applesauce so when Braxton was around 6 months old I decided to go to the Orchards, get a bushel of apple and make applesauce.  This was the first time I had EVER attempted anything like this in my life so I wasn't sure what was going to happen.  I did have to do some research first and figure a few things out.
1. What kind of apples work best?
2. Do I want to add sweeteners
3. What is the Fastest method?

To answer the first one I asked the people that work at the orchards since they know their apples and they recommended Cortland.
To answer the second one I looked inside myself and decided NO there is enough natural sugar in apples
To answer the third one I went to my faithful old Ball Blue Book for Canning and looked at a couple of recipes.

Let me just add here that I own a tomato juicer that is also designed for taking peels and seeds out of apples too.  If you don't own one of these you will have to core and peel apples by hand or spend $20 to buy one.  I say buy one if you are making a large amount of sauce.

OK so here is what has to be done.  I slice the apples into quarters and put them in a couple of large pots with a cup or so of water and let them cook for a while. Make sure you stir them so they don't burn to the bottom of the pan.  Once all of the apples seems soft you can scoop them into the juicer/peeler and the applesauce comes out one side and the skins and seeds the other.  After all the apples have gone through this process the sauce needs to be cooked for another 10/ 15 min stirring very often to avoid burning.  If you want to add Cinnamon do it while it is still cooking.



Once they have cooked all that is left to do is put it in jars and process in a hot water bath for 20 min. 
Just Note that once you make your own you will NEVER go back to store bought again.

Beef stew

Well fall has finally started to set in so I am making a big crock pot full of beef stew tonight.

 I went grocery shopping and found a decent sized round steak for $3.29 but it was close to it's shelf life so the store had a $1 off coupon attached.  I cut it into bite sized pieces and poured a little red wine and worchestersire sauce on it and let it marinade for about 1/2 hour.  In the mean time I cut up 4 medium potatoes which the local store had on sale (10lb bag for $2.99)  I bought some celery and carrots which were both on sale for $0.99 a bag and threw in 2 cups of green beans and a cup of corn which were both out of my garden.  I added 1 can of Low sodium beef stock which I found in the reduced price cart for $0.50.  I then added some Mrs. Dash and Onions for flavor.  I just made a rue to help thicken it since it was more like soup.  I love the crock pot for stews it means I don't have to stare at it to keep it from burning.

I hope everyone is enjoying fall and all the warm foods that come with it.

I hope to go to the orchards is week and get apples so I can make applesauce and dehydrate some for traveling.

hotels

So due to my long absence I decided today was a good day to tell you about my Hotel deal I got the other day.  My husband is a groomsman in a wedding this weekend and it is out of town.  We both enjoy having a few drinks and decided that we would get a hotel room instead of one of us having to be a designated driver (that would have been me).

 The town the reception is in has 2 hotels a Super 8 and a little No name place.  Well since we were only going to sleep there for a few hours and take showers we figured the little no name place would be sufficient and most likely less expensive. 

When I called up the person on the phone asked what kind of room I said either a queen or 2 doubles we really didn't care either way.  Well after he looked he said the only room left was a 2 queen with a single, I asked for a price now assuming I was going to have to call the super 8 and hope they a smaller room, and he said it was going to be $69 plus tax.  Yes $69 for a 3 bed hotel room.  We figure this way if any of our other friends show up and drink too  much we can offer them a place to crash out, because I'd rather sleep in a hotel room full of people than lose a friend to drunk driving.

Well I hope everyone has a great a weekend.

Garlic Butter Tilapia

My house is not a big fish eating house but I am trying to find new recipes that make it more enjoyable. 
My newest one Is Garlic Butter Tilapia
I had a large bag of Frozen Tilapia fillets I had got on sale at Wal-mart. It was a 3 lb bag for $8 so I took out 5 fillets (in case My Mom wanted to eat)

I melted 1/2 a stick of butter in a sauce pan (big enough to fit the fish in so I didn't have to dirty any more dishes) I added 1 1/2 tsp of Garlic granules to to the butter as it melted and kept it on the heat so the butter would absorb the flavor.

I had some hot dog buns left over from a party that I dried out and made into fine bread crumbs.

A dipped each peace of fish into the Garlic Butter then into the bread crumbs.  I sprinkled the top with a little pepper and baked on 375 until the fish started to flake, probably about 20 min.

I served it with Green beans from the garden that I steamed and tossed with a TBLS of Roasted red pepper Italian dressing and a shake of Parmesan cheese.

I had really good intentions to do Mashed potatoes with this, but realized too late that I had used the last of the potatoes.

I was worried that the fish would have no flavor since I didn't season the bread crumbs but the garlic Butt flavor really came through.

New Adventure

I am just letting my followers know that I will be adding a new element to this site.  I will be reviewing products for companies and offering a link to purchase them.

Yes there will be a little incentive in it for me of coarse, however, I will be setting some of my own personal rules too.

Everything that I list will be reasonably priced, useful, and something I would use myself.  I will not Push anything on anyone, I will simply be reviewing and offering everyone a link on where to find and purchase it.

I of coarse am going to focus on Family friendly products as those are the ones most useful in my life.  I truly hope this works out since I love sharing new things with my friends and family.  I am not sure when the first product will arrive but I hope to be able to put it to use and review it as soon as it arrives.

Freebies

I have been so busy this summer that I have been neglecting my blogs and I apologize for that. 

Today I am going to talk about freebies.  There are a lot of freebies out there to be had if you just know where to look and if y are willing to work for them a little.

The first thing I recommend that you do is start a new E-mail with Hotmail or Yahoo because to access many of these freebies creates a ton of Spam mail.  This also helps keep your freebie updates from getting kicked to a spam folder in your regular e-mail.

There are many different types of freebies so I will go a few different ones.

1. Codes or coupons:  You normally have to google the word code, in relation to what it is your looking for. (ie Target codes) most of these are Free shipping or $5 off $75 purchase.

2. Samples: One of my favorites!  The best site for this is sweetfreestuff.com they will send you a daily link to free samples of items from Body wash to dog food.  Just remember these are samples so you get small quantities or 1 or 2 items. Another great way to free products is to go directly to the website itself, many offer free samples.  Procter and Gamble have a great one, and they send you e-mails when new freebies are available.

3. Search and win:  Swagbucks is one of my favorites for this.  I use their tool bar for searches and earn swagbucks, they also have codes to find(so it's kind of fun) plus multiple other ways to earn bucks, then you can cash them in for gift cards or hundreds of other gifts they have available. I have a Swagbucks link on the left if you just want to click and look around.

4. Surveys:  This one takes some patients and time but you can potentially earn money, free entries into contests or multiple other items.  I recommend looking into these pretty closely before you tackle them.  Inbox dollars is a good survey site, they also have an options of just accepting and E-mail and click Read and earn $0.02 each.  Takes a while but will earn you a little something.

5. Coupons.  I have to say yo are not going to find coupons for free items but you will find many many free coupons.  This saves me from having to purchase a Sunday paper as I can get almost all of the same coupons.  Although Procter and Gamble does do a HUGE coupon flier once a month and you do have to purchase the Sunday paper for that one.

There are many , many different options out there you just need to look around and decide which ones are right for you.

I just want to say that have a enough trail packs of Shampoo to last me for months.
Good Luck on your own Freebie search!

Shopping trip

Friday I went to the Lands End warehouse sale and I found some pretty good bargains. I purchased a very cute Aqua skort for $11.50 and a pair of wedge sandals for $9.00.  I bought Braxton a long sleeved tie dyed shirt for $5 and $7.00 for a yellow puff vest for him.  I also bought a really heavy beach towel for $4.00.  It has someone else's name Monogrammed on it, but 20 min and a seam ripper and I will have that taken right out.  If you are willing to take the time to remove the monograms all of those items are 50% off whatever sale price they have on them. 

This is a trip my Mom and I Make every year and it is so WORTH It!

Garden time

Oh it is my favorite time of year!!!  The garden is growing and the veggies are fresh and I am in heaven.  I have already harvested beans and got them in the freezer and I have more ready to pick.  My Mom says the Cucumbers are going crazy the last couple of days.

 We lost a lot of our garden to early rain that rotted many of our seeds before they got the chance to grow, but we will survive it.  we have plenty of beans, peppers, onions, cucumbers, broccoli, Swiss chard, and beets to get us through the winter.

Since WI isn't the best place to grow fruit (besides Apples) I do buy a bushel of Peaches or Pears every year to can.  I'm actually going to get my Peaches this afternoon.  I also make Applesauce but that has to wait until Fall.  Today however I can go pick up some peaches.

This week in a nut shell is pick up peaches today, pick and freeze beans on Tuesday, can peaches on Wednesday, then Thursday is pickles, Friday however is a Warehouse shopping event at Lands End so I will not be in the garden.  I'll try to keep everyone updated on progress of freezing and canning, and I will definitely let you know how much Money I saved at the warehouse event. 

Happy Gardening!!

summer sales

Since this was a holiday week there were some pretty good sales in the flier from my local grocery store.  One thing that was a HUGE bargain was Boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $1.99 lb. I just wish now I would have bought a few more packages, the other BIG item was a package of Klement's brats (have to support WI) for $3.99.  The only problem with that one was that it was limit One and you had to have a separate purchase of $5 (which isn't hard to do).  I also picked up 2 pounds of strawberries for $3.00 and 1 pint of Blueberries for $1.99.

So for lunch yesterday we all just snacked on bowls of fresh fruit, it was very refreshing and super Yummy.

I did have to try to come up with something for supper and since I had the chicken and was in a mood for light and refreshing I decided to make Chicken fajita salad with homemade tortilla strips.

To make the salad I marinated 2 breasts of chicken in Lemon juice, fajita seasoning, garlic, and cilantro for 1 1/2 hours. Then I grilled them on my stove top grill pan.  I also lightly grilled a green pepper and some red onion.

The salad was just iceberg lettuce, sweet corn, tomatoes, and Colby jack cheese.  When the chicken was done I sliced it into strips and tossed it with the salad, pepper and onion and used some fat free ranch salad spritzers on it.

The tortilla strips were super easy to make and made a great addition and added some crunch to the salad.
I took 2 10" tortillas, brushed a little butter on both sides then sprinkles them with Garlic granules, onion salt, and cilantro.  I then cut them into strips and backed them at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes.  My son LOVED them and had 1/3 of them eaten before the salads were ready.

I have some tortillas in my fridge that are getting a little old so I think I am going to make them all into these strips and have them around for a little snack.

New recipe

I had a pork roast in my freezer and decided today was a good day to throw it in the slow cooker. I didn't want potatoes cooked in with it so I needed to find something new to do with them.  As usual I hit up Allrecipes.com for ideas.  What I found was a recipe for Neapolitan potatoes, however I only have regular potatoes, not red, I have 6 cheese Italian, not fresh Grated Parmesan, and all of my herbs are dried as I didn't get around to doing an herb garden this year.

Tonight's Supper:

Slow cooker Pork shoulder roast and Neapolitan Potatoes

1 Pork shoulder roast (free for me) about $2.50 lb at the store
1 package of Onion Soup mix $0.50 ..I had bought a package of 2 for $1 earlier in the month
1 cup of water
Combine in a slow cooker and cook on Med/high for 5 hours

Potatoes
5 large Idaho potatoes Sliced...around $0.50 as I got a 10lb bag for $1.99 last week on sale
1/2 med onion chopped
2 T. garlic (minced)
2 T. Oregano
2 T. Parsley
2 T.  Basil
1 tsp salt and pepper
1 can Diced tomatoes $1.00
1/2 cup Cheese I'm using the 6 cheese Italian
5 T. Olive oil

Combine 1 T. oil, Potatoes, garlic herbs and spices
Place 1/3 of mixture in 9x12 pan add 1/3 of the tomatoes and sprinkle with 1/3 of the cheese
Repeat 2 more times and bake at 375 for 1 hour or until the potatoes are tender. 

Just a reminder that I just found this recipe and I am experimenting so I am going to decide if I like it myself tonight.

I think I'm going to have my hubby stop at a roadside stand on the way home and grab some sweet corn too.

Just another Healthy but inexpensive meal to feed the whole family and feel good about.

Clearance fun.

Because I love to shop but have minimal money to do so the clearance rack is my best friend.  I always check out stores like Old Navy when I am near one because their clothes are relatively inexpensive to start with so the clearance items are usually under $10.

My favorite way to shop clearance however is a store remodel.  Most stores now days keep so many items on hand that when they do a remodel they need to clear as much space as possible to begin rearranging.  I am currently in heaven with our local Wal-mart doing a complete remodel.  I bought my husband a pair of bibs for winter for $9 and and myself a Bra and underwear set for $7.

The one thing I do recommend is to not get carried away and watch what you are buying.  People tend to see clearance and just buy. Make sure you watch the prices, a store like Wal-mart will put a clearance sign up and not actually mark down the price.

Happy Clearance Shopping Everyone.

Left overs

Earlier I was reading a article about how complicated we have made our diets with processed foods.  I am by no means claiming to be the queen of healthy and I love convenience, but I do my best to keeps to food some what healthy. So with the combination of reading the article about how much crap goes into Doritos (my favorite) I started to think about what to make for supper tonight.

Well I decided to use some leftover pulled pork that was in my freezer from a party and make Pulled pork tacos.  It is a very simple, inexpensive, especially if you have leftovers, and tasty.  I especially love that it is primarily fresh ingredients.  I really wish we were a little further into summer so I would have my own fresh veggies, but oh well.

So here is how I make them
1 lb of pulled pork - $0 for me since it was leftover
1 package taco seasoning -$0.50
1/2 cup salsa - $0 it's my homemade salsa
1 can chicken stock (only because it's left overs and already cooked) -$1.00
1 package of whole wheat taco shells -$3.00
veggie toppings of your choice
Fat free sour cream (optional)

I will put the pork taco seasoning, salsa and chicken stock in the slow cooker on low for about 6 hours, just to heat it through and get the flavors into the pork. then at supper time build the taco to my specs.

Yep THAT"S IT!!

I love these they are such nice change from a regular beef taco

If you don't have leftover pork, just buy a small pork roast add all the same ingredients, except chicken stock, put in slow cooker and cook on medium for about 4-6 hours or until the pork starts to fall apart.  take pork out put it on a cutting board and pull it apart then place it back in juice and cook on low for another hour.

I have been planning on making these for about 3 days but it hasn't worked out so it is going to happen tonight!!

Garden growing

I went to my parents house this morning to get some dirt so I could get  my squash and pumpkins planted and I checked on the garden and it looks GREAT.

For anyone that knows me the know I love to garden, I plant more food than I ever know what to do with but it's OK.  I plant vegetables galore..I have 51 tomato plants this year and hopefully they will stave off the blight and produce well.  I absolutely love making my own salsa and sauces..everything from pizza to pasta. I might even try Ketchup this year.  Today I put in zucchini, pumpkins, butternut, and 2 kinds of winter squash along with musk melon.  I am so excited to grow them at my house this year.

Just for fun  I planted one tomato plant and 2 green bean plants (my son started them in the house) in an old fashion wash tub in front of my house.

I think my next project is going to be a homemade compost bin. Simple enough to make I just need to decide where to put it.

It is a lot of work to grow a huge garden, but the money I save in the long run, and the health benefits make it worth it to me.

great ways to save.

Here is one great thing about summer, it makes people want to share.  The warm weather brightens everyone spirits and people become more giving, I say take advantage of these times, but remember to pay it forward somewhere.

One example is rhubarb, someone with an established crop will almost always share, as they never want to deal with it all.  My husband had been doing some landscaping work for a couple and I was helping him. I mentioned to the homeowner how nice his rhubarb looked and how I was trying to get my own going.  Well, the next thing I know I'm home washing and cutting what ended up being 12 cups of rhubarb, I had already been given 5 cups by a friend and had made a dessert so I froze these 12 cups for later.

Perennial flowers are another thing, late spring and early summer people start to thin their perennials, although it is not the ideal time to transplant, the plants will survive, though often flowers will not bloom the first year. I have gotten iris', honey suckles, and hostas this way.  I had been given so much I actually donated some of it to our local community gardens.

I truly enjoy sharing what I have extras of and I love to expand my flowers and gardens every year so I can share. I can guarantee if I got it for free from someone you will get it for free from me.