QUALITY FAMILY TIME

Good morning children of the blog LOL! How are you this bright and sunny day? I am good I suppose. I plan on being very busy today actually. We had a very busy, but oh so fun day yesterday too. Thanks for the great comments and advise yesterday. Things will all pan out over time… I hope LOL. To Cyndi- I am glad I could inspire you. The hope is that you felt a sense of accomplishment when you were done! To me, that’s the REAL reward… the great feeling you have afterwards.

Ok, so we wanted to do something fun and family time… ya know just the DH, the kids, and myself… but with little to know cash. So we searched wallets, pockets, books, etc. and gathered up gift cards that have balances, coupons, etc. We had a lot more than we thought. And we headed out! First we went to CVS and picked up a lot of prescriptions for the kids… like 5 of them. BUT I had to make sure I have a month’s extra worth in the med box “in the event of” ya know? Ok, so got the yucky stuff done… lets go have some fun!



We went to Petsmart first. I has come serious coupons, a couple of GC’s with balances on them, etc. We had fun looking at the animals… until I saw the hairless rat! YUCK! OMG that thing was so nasty! I had to leave the area LOL! So I go to the back where the dry cat food is. I knew that Friskies was “redesigning” the bags (from a coupon preview in one of the smaller bags I got a couple of weeks ago LOL) and I actually found 2 of the 16 pound bags with the new design! I got them… yes because of the picture! I plan to do something crafty with them that you will see soon enough LOL! So I go up to the register and after coupons and GC’s and such, I paid $4.16… not bad huh for 32 pounds of food that was normally about $23 LOL!



Then we went over to the next store in the parking lot… Home Depot! OMG I wandered around in the garden center for at LEAST an hour! I couldn’t make up my mind on what I wanted LOL. Well I saw the Topsy Turvey Planters on sale for less than half of what you normally find them, and I said THAT’S IT! I got a couple of younger tomato plants to fit in them and 2 planters and a couple other plants and I was out the door! Total after GC… 12 cents! I can most definitely handle that!!!! We decided we didn’t want to go home after that and sit around and be bored, so we dropped the plants off and went back out! (Just like pets, I don’t believe in leaving plants in hot cars either! And it was 98, so there was no way I was going to cook my beauties!)



Our first stop was to show the gang the inside of Bed, Bath & Beyond, which they had never been in. Their faces glowed with amazement and said they had to keep me out of there because as soon as you walk in, you see a 20 foot wall of kitchen gadgets LOL! I admit it could be a potentially dangerous store really LOL! So unless I have killer coupons or need something very specific, I will stay away LOL! We did leave with a bottle of hand soap (the pink grapefruit scent) that they had for $1 and a package of Charmin Toilet Seat covers (travel pack) because I was out LOL! Total was $2.16 in that store! YAY!



Then the DD wanted to go to Barnes and Noble (yes this picture is the one in our town LOL) which also has a Starbucks… DH and I both had Starbucks cards as well. OK lets go! Went into Starbucks first… DD got hers, and DH ordered his. Well they realized they were out of the bananas to make DH’s so they wanted to give him credit back on his card… AND the drink. So I thought ok, maybe it was a partial credit… NOPE FULL PRICE! His drink was free… little turd! LOL. I couldn’t get the Strawberries & Crème Frappacino because all they had was regular milk and I didn’t have any pills with me. SO I opted to try something new… I tried the Shaken Iced Passion Tea Lemonade. It was pretty good actually. Gave her my GC and was on my way. We wandered, DD found her some books, I found a bargain book about Farmers Markets which was really good and cheap, Alex found a book that had a little toy with it, and we were gone… an hour later LOL! Total here $10.03!



Off to the mall to window shop, get some gift and craft ideas, etc. LOL! I had a GC and coupons for Aunt Annie’s and Bath & Body. So we walked around- OMG this one little booth had the cutest cover for Madison’s phone… AUTISM PUZZLE PIECES! But I couldn’t afford what they wanted. They didn’t have any covers for my phone, so we walked on. Oh let me tell ya, there were all kinds of free samples in the food courtyard LOL! So we went to Aunt Annie’s and cashed in the coupons for pretzel dogs, etc. then made rounds through the courtyard, sat down, and ate it all… we had almost a full meal each which was so funny! Total cost of food was $2.98! Then we walked to Bath & Body works where we were greeted at the door by a lady handing out coupons and free little bottles of hand sanitizer! OMG it was so cool! We definitely went to the mall on the right day! Free goodies everywhere we turned! We got some holsters for our santizer (in Gator Blue & White no doubt for me and DD and a green tie dye for the DH… DS14 didn’t care about them LOL), a few other scents of sanitizer (cause they were on sale), a LEMON hand soap for the kitchen (also on sale), a LEMON fabric refresher (on sale 50% off), and then the coupon said free item with a $10 purchase, so I got a free full size shower gel. Total out the door was $12.51… not too shabby for 11 normally very pricey items!! We wandered some more and found more free samples (like at the candy store, etc) and then we decided it was time to go home. DS wanted to go home and honestly, after the 2nd day of walking for hours… so did momma! LMAO! Our total out of pocket cash for the day (not counting GC's, etc.) ended up being $31.96. This was left over from my reserve cash I had to pay for the medicines and in my pocket from the casino LOL... Not bad huh? For about 6-7 hours of fun and outing...

I fielded some interesting calls last night and after that, I crashed… HARD! Today is going to be shape up around the house day. I have some important calls to make and then cleaning and tending to plants. I have to mount anchor screws to hang my planters and aggravate my landlord LMAO! And of course cooking, etc. Think I might actually bust out some crock pot recipes today and make some dinner for tonight and maybe even the next few nights! Either way, once I wake up I will be off and running LOL… right now I am still shaking out the cobwebs!

Ok so the craft today… are you really liking these crafts BTW? Or is there something you want to see? You have to let me know so I can cater to your likings! LOL. Anyway, for this craft you are gonna recycle some old jeans! Many of us have an accordian folder holding letters, bills, etc. Well here is a way to dress them up pretty spiffy like!



Craft Idea of the Day: Denim Jeans Letter Binder

Materials:

Jeans
Craft Glue
Binder
Ribbon



Directions:

Before - Nice flowered box, but all tore apart

Step 1 - I used a new binder (cut to the right size, and i had to got rid of the iron parts first), then covered it with jeans-fabric, using textile glue.

Step 2 - I made the inside out of thin cartbox (see next image for sizes) and glued them together with bison-kit

Step 3 - Adding ribbon to the corners (textile glue) to nice-it-up :)

Step 4 - Adding label, ribbon (to close the box), flower and notes

After - Taaadaaa!

Pretty neat if you ask me! OK now this is the part I know you all have been waiting for! FOOD!!!!! Ok, I hear you drooling and panting with anticipation to see what type of theme I have for you this week LOL. Well, after careful consideration (and recent overindulgence LOL) I am NOT doing seafood this week… maybe next week. I just can’t “stomach” more seafood right now LMAO! BUT this week is going to be healthy, inventive, and locally grown! Yes my children… its FARMER FAVORITES WEEK! All veggie meals made with locally grown produce! It’s a great alternative… maybe you can substitute those greasy artery clogging burgers a couple of times a week for one of the fresh crisp healthy homemade meatless meals LOL! Vegetarian meals can be very tasty… but you have to give it a shot before you turn up your nose at them! To quote Sydny Carter…”Whether you're a dyed-in-the-wool vegetarian or just want to up your intake of vegetables, legumes and grains, there is a world of meat-free recipes to choose from.” So I hope you are looking forward to this week and that you enjoy these A+ meals!



Addictive Sweet Potato Burritos

Serve these with sour cream, chopped green onions and salsa. For truly vegan burritos, omit the cheese and sour cream. These may be made ahead of time, individually frozen, then heated. For an interesting variation, try deep frying these tasty burritos."

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups canned kidney beans, drained
2 cups water
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
4 teaspoons prepared mustard
1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
3 tablespoons soy sauce
4 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes
12 (10 inch) flour tortillas, warmed
8 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Heat oil in a medium skillet, and saute onion and garlic until soft. Stir in beans, and mash. Gradually stir in water, and heat until warm. Remove from heat, and stir in the chili powder, cumin, mustard, cayenne pepper and soy sauce.

Divide bean mixture and mashed sweet potatoes evenly between the warm flour tortillas. Top with cheese.

Fold up tortillas burrito style, and place on a baking sheet.

Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven, and serve.

OK everybody, I have some household chores calling me and some plants who need my lovin! The garden first aid seems to be working cause I am seeing some serious green popping back there again YAY! Join me back here tomorrow for another head spinning crazy day packed full of interesting adventures! Take some motion sickness pills and you will be ok LOL! Until tomorrow… HUGS!