Making Money at the Grocery Store.

This evening I went grocery shopping. Coupons in hand, I headed to Walmart. I actually had money to do some heavy duty grocery buying today. Something I haven't done in a very long time. Maybe not the best idea to do so on a Saturday evening at Walmart. If you have never been to my local Walmart on a weekend, you probably won't understand. From what I've been told it is one of the busiest Walmarts in the country. I don't doubt it. The shelves were pretty much cleaned out tonight, so it was slim pickings. However I did find most of the things for which I had coupons.

Anyway, back to my topic. I heard about this SC Johnson Rebate a couple weeks ago. Buy any 3 SC Johnson products listed on the form and get a 5 dollar rebate. Well, Glade products are on the list, and lately there have been some pretty decent Glade coupons floating around cyberspace and the Sunday paper inserts. I had two 3 dollar coupons for Glade "The Fragrance sensation" multi wick candles which cost 4.50, so I paid 1.50 each out of pocket for those. I also had one coupon for 4 dollars off Glade Sense & Spray starter kit which cost 5.00, so I only paid 1 dollar. My total for those 3 items was 4 dollars, however I will be getting the 5 dollar rebate, which means I actually made a profit of 1 dollar! Woohoo!

I've already got the rebate filled out and ready to pop in the mail on Monday. I have found I have to fill out and send in the rebate form right after I make the purchase. If I don't I'll either forget to do it altogether, or I'll end up losing something that I need to complete the form.

Now I just have to wait the 6-8 weeks to actually have my profit in hand. There have been quite a few good rebates which I've taken advantage of lately. I have yet to get any of them back though. I think I may start a special savings to put my rebate money into and save up for something special, like a weekend getaway with my husband or something fun like that.

Thankful Thursday

~I am thankful for the mums that my mom planted in my pots out front. So pretty!
~I am thankful for more good blood test results. My new liver continues to be healthy, and I feel GREAT!
~I am thankful for a fun, though quick, trip to the pumpkin farm this evening.
~I am thankful that Caleb is finally learning to put himself to sleep at night, and has been sleeping better through the night the last several nights.
~I am thankful for the new job that my husband is enjoying.
~I am thankful for the kidless evening my husband and I have planned for tomorrow night. I adore my kids, but every couple needs some time without the kids once in a while, and we've had precious little of that lately. I'm really looking forward to it!
~I am thankful to hear the news that my brother just got a job after being laid off for several months now. He's an awesome digital video effects artist and the place that hired him is lucky to have him!
~I am thankful that my daughter has the day off tomorrow. I'm planning to do something special with her, just haven't decided what yet.
~I am thankful for my very first blog follower! Yea! LOL :)

Psalm 40:16 Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified.

Psalm 104:³³-34 I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD.

Psalm 118:24 This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 126:3 The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.

Go here to read more Thankful Thursdays.

Abbreviated Trip to the Pumpkin Farm

Tonight I invited my mother-in-law and Sister-in-law over for dinner. I made venison stew with my leftover venison roast from last night's dinner. I just threw the leftover meat and broth, some carrots, celery, onions, and potatoes into a crock pot and let that cook for the afternoon. My mom made some fabulous homemade whole wheat bread that we went perfectly with the stew. They came down about 4 o'clock. We quickly scarfed up our yummy dinner then loaded into the vehicles and headed to the pumpkin farm.

We arrived at the pumpkin farm at about 5:20, not realizing that they close at 6 p.m. on weeknights. Normally we would take a little longer to walk through their pumpkin people, and spend more time looking at the animals, however, we had to abbreviate our visit due to the time crunch. We stopped at the concession stand to get some yummy fall treats, and then spent the rest of our time there in a mini photo-shoot. Even though it was a quick trip, the kids enjoyed themselves, and because we weren't there long we didn't have any complaining and the kids were happy and entertained the whole time.

So without further ado: Our trip to the pumpkin farm!

Busy Morning in the Kitchen

Today Kyle had the day off from preschool since it was parent-teacher conferences for the special-ed kids. Last night we rented "Monsters vs. Aliens" and invited his neighbor-friend, David to come over this morning to watch the movie, have lunch with us, and some playtime with Kyle. I promised Kyle that I would make them some homemade caramel popcorn to have while they watched their movie. Well, that fell through since I didn't have the ingredients, but my mom made a run to the grocery store and we were still able to make the popcorn, just not in time to have it while watching the movie.

Homemade Caramel popcorn is such an easy thing to make. It is a big hit at parties and a great gift to give to a neighbor or friend at Christmas or just because. I actually made 2 batches today. I made enough for our family enjoy, plus some to send to my brother in a college-care-package, and plenty to share with my neighbor.


Caramel Corn
6 Quarts Popcorn
1 Cup Butter
2 Cups Brown Sugar
1 Tsp Vanilla
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda

1. Pop popcorn and set aside.
2. Over medium heat, bring last 4 ingredients to a boil and boil for 5 minutes stirring constantly.
3. Pour over popcorn and mix well.
4. Spread onto baking sheet and bake in the oven at 250 degrees for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

While I was in the kitchen, I also took the time to do a little meal preparation for our dinner. Our menu for tonight is Venison roast, boiled potatoes, green beans, and homemade applesauce. I may make some biscuits as well, but that will depend on how much time I have. Wednesday's are Awana nights which means I have to have dinner on the table earlier than normal. I prepared the roast and have that ready to pop in the oven, and I also cooked the homemade applesauce.

Homemade applesauce is another one of those things that is just so easy to make and tastes 100 times better than anything you'll buy in a grocery store. I usually like to make several batches of applesauce at once and freeze some of it, however I haven't been to the orchard to pick apples yet so I only had enough apples on hand to make one batch. Just enough to have with our dinner tonight. I know there won't be any leftovers because we all love homemade applesauce!


Applesauce
2 lbs apples
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves
1/2 cup sugar

1. Peel, slice, and core apples and place in saucepan.
2. Add cinnamon and cloves. Bring to boil and then allow to simmer for 10-20 minutes. Simmer until apples are soft and easily mashed with a masher. The time varies depending on the variety of apples used.
3. Add sugar and cook for another minute.
4. Serve warm, refrigerate for later, or put it in freezer containers and freeze for future use.

If you've got a favorite recipe please post it in a comment, or post a link to it in a comment. I love to try new recipes, especially when I know they are tried and true.

Article Worth Reading.

Thanks to my sweet mom, I have a subscription to Good Housekeeping. I enjoy flipping through the magazines each month, getting new recipe ideas, sometimes neat craft and creative snack ideas, and quite often some very interesting articles. The latest issue has an article that I think every mom should read. It is about why being a mean mom is good for your kids. (Here is the online link.)

The writer quotes Richard Weissbourd, a child and family psychologist on the faculty of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and School of Education and the author of "The Parents We Mean To Be."

"Many parents are so focused on their children's happiness and self-esteem and believe that if a child feels good about herself, she'll have more to give others. That's the modern idea, but it's often not true. Our kids' happiness is clearly important, but if we place that above their respecting us, caring about others, and appreciating what they have, children are less likely to internalize our moral standards, learn empathy, or be grateful. They may grow up thinking their happiness is the priority."

"...teaching self-reliance is, in my book, the ultimate goal of parenting."


I couldn't agree more with both of those statements. I believe that the goal of parenting is to teach my children to love God, and others, and in doing so teach them to be self-sufficient, responsible, moral members of society. I haven't read Richard Weissbourd's book, but these two along with other statements the writer has quoted in her article make me think it just might be worth reading.

Definitely check out that article if you get a chance and I'd love to have you leave a comment with what you think.

Thankful Thursday

~I am thankful that I am now able to eat chocolate again! YUM!
~I am thankful that God has blessed me with wonderful children. I've got a little snuggler sleeping on me right now. The kiddos normally nap in their own beds, but I can't help but enjoy these moments while they last! My babies are growing up and won't be sleeping on my lap like this forever.
~I am thankful for God's provision over the last few months, though things are still on the rocky side, I have faith that he will continue to provide as he has always done in the past.
~I am thankful for Autumn scented candles, tasty goodies, and cozy decorations. I find Autumn to be such a warm and comforting time of year. I love baggy sweatshirts, and fuzzy warm socks, snuggling under blankets, and cool evening walks.
~I'm thankful for my mom who has been the biggest help over the last several months. She has given of her time and energy more than is necessary. Word's cannot express how much that has meant to me! I love my mom!
~I'm thankful for life, and more precious moments spent with my family. It is a gift that I cherish! I'm thankful for the person who chose to donate their organs so that I could have this second chance, and I'm thankful to my God for graciously working out the details of my transplant so perfectly!

God is GOOD! AMEN!

Go here to read others' Thankful Thursday posts.

Comforting Autumn Recipe

In my effort to save every little penny anywhere possible, we have yet to turn our heat on. The kids and I are bundling up, and yesterday I decided to do a little baking in order to have our oven on to warm up our house a bit. I found this delicious peanut butter muffin recipe and gave it a try. They turned out very good! Definitely a recipe I'll make again.

Topping

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 2 teaspoons butter (melted)
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Cream the Following

• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 1 cup milk

Dry Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Mix Together Topping Ingredients.
2. Cream together shortening, peanut butter, and brown sugar.
3. Mix the dry ingredients, flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.
4. Add alternately to creamed mixture 1 cup of milk and the mixed dry ingredients.
5. Fill baking cups about 1/2 to 3/4's full.
6. Sprinkle topping on each cupcake.
7. Bake at 375 for 18 - 20 minutes.