One before the weekend.

This is what Brad wishes our dining room table did not look like...but it usually does! Today was a very productive day; it could have been because Ben and I did not leave the house all day long! These cold, rainy days have actually been perfect days for playing inside and painting! Ben "helped" me paint for a little while. He now loves to climb up into our tall pub-style chairs, grab a paintbrush, dip it in water, and "paint" all over the newspaper. This is all fine until he pours the entire cup of water all over the floor/table...fun stuff! He is definitely getting closer to 2 every single day:) He has gotten to where he now says "no, no" if he does something he knows he shouldn't do; it is a mixture of a whole lot of cute and a whole lot of trouble. I will miss my baby being a baby, but time marches on!
Ben's Gram, Papa, and Amma stopped in for a short visit today which was awesome because I was able to finish 6 paintings on which I was working! He worked his puzzles with them for a while and had a nice little surprise visit!
Tomorrow, we are headed to Columbia for the Mule Day festivities; Ben's uncle Brent will be coming to visit. Brent is a hunter and lives in Washington, D.C.; he has some sort of horned animal skull hanging in his house that Ben just has to see every time we are on Skype. "Bull" is one of Ben's favorite words, and he calls all cows/horned creatures bulls. So, Ben now calls Brent uncle Bull. We'll see if it sticks (it's kind of cute). I'll be sure to post some pics from M.D. early next week!
I'll leave you with a picture of a patterned monogram painting I did for my cousin; I think it turned out pretty! Also couponers, tomorrow from 3-8, go pick up your free bag of sun chips from your local store...if you feel like making a special trip for a bag of chips (I probably won't). Have a safe and blessed weekend!

Mid-Week Shopping

This is one of those days when I know I really shouldn't be stopping to blog, but Ben just went down for a nap, so I thought I would sneak one in. The picture above is a bunny (obviously) that I painting earlier today; it is part of an Easter painting for a friend. It made me smile, so I figured I would include him for a little Springy touch! I hope everyone had a great weekend and beginning of the week. We have been in Columbia, so I haven't had my camera or computer to blog. Sunday, we had a 90th birthday party for my dear grandmother Edna! So many people turned out to wish her a happy day, and if you know my grandmother, you know why! She is such a people-loving person; I think she received over 100 cards! It was so great to see her so happy around all of the people who mean so much to her! I hope I can have half as many friends as her when I am that age. I will post a picture from the party when my mom sends me one.
Yesterday, on the other hand, I attended the funeral of a high school friend's father. This is one of the first parent deaths of people my age; I am constantly reminded we are getting older. My thoughts and prayers are with The McAdams family on the loss of a father, grandfather, and husband.
Now that we are back in Lawrenceburg (it is good to be home, by the way), I had to do my shopping today. This week was kind of fun because I really don't need any groceries since we are headed back to Columbia for Mule Day (yay) this weekend. I was able to score some really good savings at Walgreens this week, and I only did a little coupon/sale shopping at Kroger. I'll include my weekly pics as if anyone cares along with amount saved. I am trying to keep my receipts to show Brad just how much money I save him each month:) To the right is my Kroger haul for today. I used coupons on almost everything except the apples, bananas, the Oscar Mayer deli meat, and the whole chicken, and the Tyson frozen chicken breasts (the deli meat was 1/2 off this week, the whole chicken was $2.91 with a red clearance sticker, and the frozen breasts were $5.99 and are usually $8.99). I always buy my frozen chicken when it is $5.99, so I don't get caught without any and have to pay full price. Anyway, I spent $47.76 and saved $34.36 (44%).
At Walgreens, I had a $10 register reward from buying Brad's expensive Mach 3 razor blades last week, so I was able to use that towards the first half of my purchase. I used coupons and the $10 rr to buy the items with register rewards attached first. I paid $30.72, saved $34.97, and earned $16 is register rewards. I shopped a little more, but Ben was getting exhausted, so I checked out with some of the other items I went to buy; I used $12 of my register rewards and paid $1.87. In all, I bought $92.08 in health and beauty products for $32.59, and I still have $4 is rr to use next time. There was a register reward special on travel size products, so I stocked up for our cruise!
I guess that's it! The only cooking blurb I have today is the fact that I did the old switcheroo last night with our pasta for spaghetti. At first, Brad called me out and thought he was going to hate it, but, as I suspected, we couldn't even tell the difference. I won't use it every time, but it certainly is a good way to get a little whole grain in Ben's diet since he shoves it in by the bowl-full! *One more thing, I wanted to make a correction in my crock-pot roast recipe. I accidentally wrote 8 hours on low in the crock-pot. I really only think it needs about 6 hours or so. Just make sure you check it with a meat thermometer to make sure it is done. Hope everyone has a great night; let me know if you try any of the recipes I have put on so far! I'd love to hear from you!

Better late...

Happy Sunday everyone! I am up early this morning with no baby to care for (he is at mom and dad's),so I thought I would fit in a little blog about our Friday and weekend! I previously wrote that Friday would be a day of painting, and it was! Ben is SO unbelievably good while I paint that I can usually get quite a bit accomplished! He loves to "do laundry." If I leave a load accidentally (as we all do I'm sure) in the dryer, he will spend an hour moving the laundry from the dryer to the washer and back to the dryer; thank you, front-loading machines! He makes me laugh because I will hear him bump his little head on the dryer or washer door; he immediately comes to the laundry room door with his hand on his head saying "Oh." I ask him, "Did you hit your head?" He replies, "Uh-huh." I say, "Are you o.k.?" He says, "Uh-huh" and goes right back to playing. He just wants me to feel his pain I guess! Another great and random activity that keeps him busy for a while is playing with dried beans. He is a little too young to fully comprehend keeping them all in the container, but he does a fairly good job! Try it with yours if you dare!

Thursday, we had roast with carrots, potatoes, and onions with roasted broccoli for dinner. I make this about once a month like many mothers do. It is the easiest recipe because all you do it peel and chop and throw it all in the crock pot in the morning, and the house proceeds to smell amazing all day long! Brad said, for some reason, that this one was his favorite yet, and to "do whatever you did on this one next time." Husbands are brutally honest. Not that I am a great cook, but I did want to share that simple "recipe" and the recipe for the broccoli, I stole off of another girl's blog, so I am including that. It is my FAVORITE broccoli dish, and I love broccoli!Crock pot Roast

1. Buy or thaw your roast (I always buy them on clearance or sale at Kroger and freeze them)
2. Peel a bag of carrots (I prefer the long ones not baby) and 2-3 large potatoes; chop
3. Chop onion in large chunks
4. Place onions and potatoes in bottom of crock pot and season with a little salt and pepper.
5. Place roast on top and add carrots around; sprinkle with a little more salt and pepper.
6. Pour 1 cup of water (I add a beef bullion cube to boiling water for more flavor) over the top
7. Add seasoning to your meat (I use Montreal steak seasoning and a little garlic powder).
8. Set crock-pot on 8 hours low, eat, and enjoy!

"Boots!"

After many weeks of asking Ben, "what kind of shoes are you getting?", he finally got them today: "Boots"! For some reason, every time I wear a pair of boots, he says boots about 50 times! So, Brad went down to Lawson's in Leoma (for you L-burg people) today at lunch and brought Ben this awesome new pair of cowboy boots. My son is about as happy as I have ever seen him when he is sporting these bad boys! He totally takes on that cowboy persona; it must be the heels. Mule Day, here we come; Ben is ready!
Well, today consisted of painting, painting, and a little more painting, and I think I just may paint again tomorrow! We are Lord willing going on a cruise soon, so I have been working hard to finish all of the Spring/Easter painting orders I have received. This little art endeavor has been so much fun; why didn't I start doing this sooner? I am planning on opening an etsy store this weekend after I figure out exact shipping costs for out-of-town orders. I don't think nor do I expect that I will sell a lot of paintings on there, but it will be fun to have people all over the place look at my work!
I did take a break from the painting to eat a nutritious and delicious lunch! You know I must include a picture every few words, so here is my lunch: a salad of baby romaine mix, carrots, red and orange peppers, tomatoes, snap peas, strawberries, albacore tuna, and Mrs. Dash's lemon pepper seasoning...yum. I also had a Wasa cracker, which I love (most people wouldn't:). I am trying, not to diet, but to eat more healthy, colorful things each day. I naturally love colorful foods; I am a veggie eater! Ben is starting to like more foods, so I have been trying to let him at least try all kinds of fruits and veggies. He eats so many bananas, I think he may turn yellow, but lately broccoli has been giving "nanna's" a run for their money! I remember thinking he would never be a good eater because he would only eat crackers and grilled cheese, but it really is true that if you eat these things and put them in front of them week after week, sometimes they come around! I just hope he keeps on liking them throughout life (considering we live in TN, which today was dubbed "the fattest state in the union"...nice.)

I need to get back to painting, but I want to leave you with my favorite way to cook sweet potatoes; we had these tonight, and I'm pretty sure Brad and I fight over the last few every time. They are nothing fancy, but man are they good! Thanks for reading, and good night all! God Bless.(These sweet potatoes I peeled look kind of like love-birds:)
Roasted Sweet Potato Bites

1. Peel your sweet potatoes and give them a rinse.
2. Cut into 1-2 inch cubes or whatever shape you prefer
3. Drizzle the pieces with olive oil to lightly coat; toss
4. Add a little sea salt (or regular salt) to taste
5. Sprinkle with cinnamon ( I like salty/sweet combos)
6. Roast in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for about 15-20 min (depending on thickness) Make sure to flip them while roasting, so none burn or stick.
   
7. When I pull them out of the oven, I like to sprinkle them with a little seasoned salt
8. Serve with favorite dipping sauce (honey mustard, we prefer ketchup)
9. Enjoy!
   

This Week's Shopping and Meal Plan

Hi all! Wow, what amazingly beautiful weather God has given us in middle TN today! Very thankful for the sunshine! This has been a very busy day complete with laundry, workout, cooking these yummy bbq chicken pizzas on flatbread (from the Walmart day-old bread rack; $.99)for lunch (which totally negated my workout), shopping, delivering paintings, and now I am about to finish cooking this Chicken and Spinach Pasta Bake Casserole with roasted sweet potato chunks and broccoli. This is a great recipe, and I have a lot of pasta and onion and chive cream cheese to use, so this sounded perfect! I poached the chicken first thing this morning, so it could cool to make it easier to pull apart. I prefer poaching to boiling chicken because it is more tender. Here's what I do: I usually use frozen chicken, which is usually cheaper. I bring a large pot of water to boil with 2 chicken bullion cubes, garlic powder, onion (or freeze dried onion), carrots, celery stalks (which I save after cutting celery for snacking), a little salt and pepper. Once the pot is boiling, add the chicken and let the water come back to a boil. Then cover the pot, and reduce heat to low. Leave the chicken to poach for about 30 minutes if frozen. Tomorrow night, we will be having a roast with carrots, onions, and potatoes cooked in the crock pot. Wednesday night, we will either have a Wanchi Ferry meal (Love these; I'm not saying they are that healthy, but when you can get them on a great sale price, they are delicious, and they do the trick on a rushed church night) or we will go to Pizza Hut with friends as usual. Finally, Thursday night will be taco night (with Laura's lean ground beef) around here...yum.
Ok, enough about cooking and on to ingredients and savings. I did my Walgreens shopping yesterday because I have learned from my friend Amanda that if you want the good savings, you have to go on Sunday when the paper comes out! These are my finds for this week; I used my $5 in register rewards that I earned on my last shopping trip on my first order (the feminine products) plus I earned $4 more when I bought them. So I turned around and used that $4 on the rest of my purchase (the trick I learned last time.) All in all, I payed $35.30 for everything shown and saved $41.99. I definitely haven't mastered Walgreens yet, but it is good for stocking up on hygiene products, which can be very expensive, at a very reasonable price.
Today, I went on my weekly Monday shopping trip to Kroger, where I did pretty well. Last night, I used Southernsavers.com and planned my trip. Kroger is finishing up its March for Savings mega event, which has been awesome for stocking up on non-perishables like cereal, pasta, and cleaning products. I bought 20 items from this promotion (all with coupons of course) in addition to all of the staples (produce, milk, and bread) that we needed for the week. This week, I was able to pay $65.00 for $116.11 worth of groceries ( 46% savings). Another way I save a little money, besides with coupons, is checking in the produce/dairy sections for the orange clearance stickers. They put these on items that are nearing the "sale by" date. I always, of course, check the condition of the produce to make sure I can use it before it "expires." I hardly ever buy salad unless it has an orange sticker. I have found that there are always more of these on Mondays, which is another good reason to shop at the beginning of the week. Well, that's it for me today; I hope you have a blessed evening with your families, and I hope I have given you a little food inspiration for the week!

Family Time

Hi all! I hope everyone had a very blessed weekend; I feel like I have been running around like crazy, but it was nice to be around Brad's family. Between cooking, doing a little cleaning, painting, mothering, "wifeing?," and blogging, I have definitely been juggling lots of things lately (like most mothers do!). It was a nice break to go to Martin to visit the Nielsens and pick up this sweet new fixture for our bedroom. Brad's dad bought this eliptical and never really like it, so my poor husband spent his entire Sunday afternoon taking it apart to get it inside and putting it back together...not fun. Now, I get to wake up every morning with this thing staring at me on the way to the bathroom; at least there's no way to ignore it:) It will be nice to be able to break a sweat without leaving the house, and I am appreciative to have such awesome in-laws, who gave it to us...I think (check back with me in a week).
The Nielsens' house is undergoing major renovation (which is amazing), so they have been confined to their bedroom and Mr. Nielsen's office for the majority of every day for the past month. So, we spent a lot of "quality" family time hanging out and eating McDonald's pancakes in one small office.
We also got to hang out with Nana, one of Ben's favorite people! One of the best things about Nana: the lady can cook! She cooks like everyone's grandmother should! So, thank you, Nana, for single-handedly helping me steer clear of any diet plan this weekend:) One last picture from the weekend is of Ben wearing some crazy orange cowboy hat that belonged to Brad's grandfather. Brad is totally attached, and I think it looks pretty cute on Ben too. Not much to say tonight, but I thought I would just share a few pics from our family weekend! Everyone have an awesome week! I'll blog more about meal plans for the week and maybe some bargains tomorrow!

Getting my Hands Dirty...

Well, judging by the multi-colored fingernails I have this morning, it is easy to see I have been hard at work on this group of paintings for friends! I always love to have seasonal paintings in the house on a table easel or hanging on the door welcoming friends. I have one for Fall, Christmas, Birthdays, and now Easter! After posting a picture of the one I made for our door, I received several requests for personalized paintings for other families! Seeing as I absolutely love to paint, I said "Yes!" and have been working away ever since. I was able to deliver a couple of them last night, and the recipients seemed pleased, so I was excited!
The painting to the left is one of my personal favorites; I have never really painted tulips, so when I got this request, I was a little nervous, but I am pretty proud of the way they turned out. I love the gold color of the ribbon and the way it complements the painting without taking away from it. This one is going in one of my friend's kitchen. As many of you know, I have always loved to be crafty, but since mommy-hood, I have not taken the time to let the house get a little dirty, so I can be creative. I am dreaming of the day (and hopefully Brad agrees) that I can have my own studio room; that would be awesome!
Another type of art I love to do is painting for kids' rooms! I have done so many of these, and I don't have pictures of all of them, but here are a couple of pictures of one I did for my girlfriend Jennifer's little boy Brandt and one I did for my Ben's room. Although I can do any design given to me, I particularly love to base the artwork off of whatever bedding/fabrics the mother has chosen for the nursery. These two are pretty similar in design (geometric) because I like the simplicity of them and letting the name be the focal point. Personalized paintings are a great gift for showers/birthdays for little boys and girls, etc. For my next child, (Lord willing) I plan on making a painting with with a big bow and spaces to fill in birth date and weight for the hospital room door. I had a personalized wreath on the door when Ben was born and everybody raved about it (thanks to the mother-in-law).
The picture to the left is not a very good one, but it shoes the "Happy Birthday" painting I did for my family. We put it out a couple of days before each person's birthday. We could design one especially for your little one's themed party or just a general one for your family.
Basically, I am ready and willing to paint whatever it is you need. There are really endless ideas, so get thinking about birthdays, babies, Mothers' Day gifts (I've got some cute ideas for this one), wedding gifts (See example stepping stone to the left), or anything else, and please let me know if I can help create a special gift for you are someone you love! Just message me on facebook or leave a comment on the blog or email me at emawiles@yahoo.com and we'll discuss ideas/pricing (reasonable, I promise). Thanks all!

A Few More Deals...

O.k., everybody; although I am glad I was able to write that LONG blog yesterday and get some people thinking about saving, I now realize that a lot of what I wrote is a waste of time! Well, not really a waste of time, but who wants to take the time to match up coupons to in-store specials when there is someone out there in blogger-land who already does it for you?!! I mean, this is the part of pre-planning that definitely takes the longest, but thanks to my good buddy Mary A., I will now be heading over to southernsavers.com to figure out which coupons I need to use each week. This website blows my mind because it not only gives you a detailed list of every sale/promotion item, but it also gives you links to online printable coupons as well as coupons that load directly to your store savings card (i.e. kroger plus card). For the beginner couponer (?), this site spells it out for you!
While I was exploring the site last night, I realized that I had overlooked some great deals with coupons I either already had or with ones I could print off of the site. (So, maybe I didn't get into bed until 11:45, big deal!) With new coupons in hand, I headed back to Kroger today to complete some unfinished business...Today, I was able to score $66.89 worth of groceries for $26.86! That (as you can see in my bragging picture) is a savings of 62%; not bad. I was able to use all coupons, get several items (5) items absolutely free, and since I bought exactly 20 items on the promotion list, I saved another 10 dollars. It was a good time indeed:)
One more thing to fill you in on (as if many of you don't already know these things). I was also made aware of yet another site called iheartwags.com; yep, that's "wags" as in Walgreens. I mean how nerdy can we get...VERY. I must admit I have never explored the world of savings at Walgreens, but after some research, help from friends (thanks Rebecca), and asking a lot of questions to the poor lady at the register, I think I have figured out a little bit about their system. They have something called "register rewards." For instance, I bought Irish Spring mens' body wash and deodorant (not for Brad as he is very brand specific in this category, but I know a sick man at church for whom I wanted to make a goody bag). It was on sale for 2 for $6 + a $4 register reward at checkout. I had a coupon for $1 off of the body wash and .50 off of the deodorant, so after I used the coupon, together, they cost $4.50 ($6-$1.50). BUT I received a $4 register reward, which is like $4 cash towards my next walgreens purchase, so the two items actually only cost me .50! In all, I received $5 in register rewards. The lady informed me (for next time) that many coupon users will check out with their register reward producing items first and then turn around and use them on the rest of their purchase (These ladies are smart!!!)
A picture of my Walgreens finds shows that I bought several household items other than cosmetics (which is usually the only thing I buy at Walgreens and usually at full cost). I spent $43.09 total, but when I added it all up and realized the cosmetics (powder, blush, nail polish, and hair color for my mom...sorry to let the cat out of the bag, mom:) alone would cost $32.96 on a usual trip and once you take away the $5 in register rewards I got, that means I basically paid $5.13 for all of the rest of the items pictured; not bad.
O.k., I guess that's all for this week as far as couponing goes. My favorite part of this is that Brad actually loves hearing about the deals and seeing pictures of all the stuff I get for not too much money! Maybe this makes up for me not really making any money...probably not, but I feel better knowing I am saving my family money! Off to cook dinner and head to church; I love Wednesdays!

Clipping and Saving

I realize it has been more than a long time since I last posted to this blog. I really feel like I am ready to start blogging again. I guess I felt like I really didn't have anything important to write about, but as I read others blogs, I realize that we are all the same. I just like reading about the lives of those I care about, so hopefully some of you will enjoy reading about mine!

Anyway, I recently posted to facebook about getting $159.00 worth of groceries this week for $89.00. I have had several people ask me how they can do the same thing, and they definitely can; it just takes a little time, clipping, research and consideration before heading off on the weekly shopping trip.
The picture above shows the groceries I bought (minus 2 large bottle of arm and hammer clothing detergent that I put away before I took the picture). As you can notice by looking at the items, many of them are non-produce/non-perishable items. Coupons are mainly available from name brand companies only, which means you have to be very careful, or you will still end up spending more at the grocery than if you bought store brands without coupons. I am simply going to let you know my weekly process for grocery shopping, and here's hoping it works for you!
Step 1: First, I look in my freezer, fridge, and cabinets to see what ingredients I already have. Basically, what do I already have that I can use towards this week's meals. I mainly focus on things that need to be used soon. I write down the meals that we could have based off of what I need to use.
Step 2: I stop on the way home from church to buy a Sunday paper. (Make sure the coupon portion is in the paper; sometimes people take the coupons without buying the paper.) Usually after church on Sunday night, I sit down and clip coupons. I don't clip them all, only the ones I think I'll really use. The best coupons are usually .50 off of 1 item because I shop at Kroger, and they double coupons up to $1. So, if the coupon is for .30, it doubles to .60, but if it is .75, it doesn't double (get it?:) Be very careful to check on the coupon to see if it says "do not double or triple" because it will obviously not double.
Step 3: I go to Kroger.com (or coupons.com if you shop somewhere else) under "In Store" at the top, I got to "coupons." There, you can print coupons that are the same as using the ones from the paper. So, I have gathered all of my coupons.
*side note: I have a binder which has envelope labeled for each store section (if you want me to list them, let me know). I sort the coupons into these envelopes for easy access while shopping with a 19 month old.
Step 4: MOST IMPORTANT!! I go again to Kroger.com and go to "In Store" and "Weekly Ads," where I type in my zip code. This is where I look through the store ads to see what is on sale and what promotions are running for the week. (My mom likes to do her coupon shopping once a month, but I prefer weekly because I can take advantage of weekly specials and use my coupons when they benefit me the most.) Look through the ad and note any coupons you have for those products because you will want to use the coupon in conjunction with the sale they are having. This week Kroger is running a "buy 10 participating items, and save $5 at the register" sale. Several of my coupon items were on this list, so this was a good week to shop! For instance, today, I had a coupon for $1.00 off of any 2 Arm and Hammer laundry products. The detergent I bought is usually $6.98, but it was on sale AND on the list for the "buy 10" promotion. So, since I did buy 10 participating items (you have to be sure to keep count) I got each of the detergents for $2.99 plus I used my coupon, so ended up buying them for $2.49 each, a savings of $4.49 a bottle!
Step 5: Plan Meals: Based on the items already in my pantry plus the items for which I am going shopping, I make a detailed meal list on my refrigerator. This helps me shop and also helps me stick to cooking and eating at home to save even more money. This is definitely the fun part!
I know this all sounds confusing, but once you get used to it, it is really easy to know when to buy and when to wait! You will begin to notice trends of when your particular store puts certain items on sale, so you can hold onto your coupons for that item until then.
Here are some final tips for saving money instead of spending more using coupons:
1.) Don't feel like just because you have a coupon, you have to use it. Make sure you are actually saving money by doing so.
2.) Be careful not to buy things your family won't use.
3.) Use coupons to stock up on non-perishable food items and health and beauty products, so you can take those out of your grocery budget for a while and put that money towards something more fun!
4.) Don't be brand specific. If you are like me, you have certain things you only want in certain brands (i.e. toilet paper and peanut butter). For everything else, be flexible, and you will save money for sure.
5.) Plan, plan, plan. Planning for the weeks shopping and meals makes me feel organized, so I can spend my daytime thinking about other things besides "what's for dinner?"
I hope this blog entry has given you some useful info when it comes to clipping coupons. Feel free to comment with any questions or success stories you have when it comes to coupons. I am not an expert by any means, but I do enjoy seeing that "Total Savings: 46%" on my receipt. It makes the time spent planning worth it! Happy shopping!