Family fun ideas and activites for the long winter break.

Winter break starts at the end of the week for me and I thought it's time to come up with fun things to do.  Winter break is different than summer break for me.  Winter break is more fun than summer break but it's so short.  So I sat and came up with some fun ideas of things to do.  Some can't be done everywhere because where you live but I am sure there is enough here to keep you busy or inspire you as well.  Please share your ideas.   Some of these ideas are meant to reduce the time if front of the screen too.

• Up first is one of our favorite things, we do this year round it's family game night.  Now we don't have many board games and it's hard to find one that everyone can play but we have fun.  We also play a lot of card games my 6 yo is learn rummy.  It's such fun.  Lately we put on Christmas Carols and find we can play for hours before we know how much time has passed.  We are going to do this on new years with finger foods to snack on during the day!

• Next is one that involves screen time but is something we enjoy.  We are a large family of six and we don't get to movies much so we do them at home.  My popcorn is better anyways LOL.  So have a family movie night.  If you watch out you can find a code for a free red box movie rental but this time of the year there are many on tv.  We tend to get new dvds for Christmas too so if that's the case we watch one of them or even an old one.

• Before Christmas, go caroling I know no one seems to do it much anymore but you can get a few neighbors and print out songs from here and go and have some fun make some peoples days. 

• I know with the cost of gas these days this is one some people might cut back on.  But take a drive take some or get some hot chocolate and look at Christmas lights.  Nothing I have found gets a child in the mood more than Christmas lights.  Play some carols in the back ground and you have a family fun night without a tv.  Your area might even have a special display.  I know that my area does.  We have nature in lights.

• I don't know about your children but mine love to cook you can have a pizza party and depending on your skills depends on how much you do.  You can use can biscuits and have your children flatten them and top them as they like with their favorite toppings and bake.  Or you can make the dough together  and then make your pizzas.  You can also buy pre made dough as well.  The options are endless.  And if you want to add reading and writing to the mix, have your child make the shopping list before you go shopping and have them read it to you while in the store.   Don't forget to add a salad and help round out your meal.

• This is one I plan on doing on Christmas eve and Yule as we watch holiday movies, have a hot chocolate bar.  Before had you can cover spoons  with chocolate and sprinkles or the end of candy canes with chocolate too.  Don't forget the marshmallows which you can buy or make the same with your hot chocolate too.  Get some fun mugs and just have fun.  Oh and don't forget whipped cream and chocolate syrup.

• You can also make Salt Dough ornaments for your tree and you can do hand prints and foot prints as well.

• Weather permitting you can talk a walk through nature, there is such beauty this time of year. 

• Make gifts for your neighbors.  This could be a great thing to get to know them as well.  It doesn't have to be pricey here are some great ideas for something simple.

• Bake or buy some treats and goodies and drop them off at fire house, police stations and er remember those that are working on Christmas and Christmas Eve.  Please call and check what the rules are before you do this in your area some may not allow this.  But some may and this is a great thing to do with your children.

• Check out your local library for story hour and maybe even your books stores.

• Take some toys and books and donate them to the children's ward or hospital.  Again this one may vary based on rules please call ahead of time but think of the children in the hospital for the holidays.

• This one may lead to a new member of the family but call up one of your local rescues and see what you can do to help from cleaning cages to just walking dogs I am sure they will have something you can do to help them out.  And it's a bonus if you fall in love with one and give them a forever home.  Just please make sure your ready to be that forever home.

• Make snowman soup, which hot chocolate, marshmallows and what other toppings you like.

• A good old standby favorite make cookies, (these make great neighbor gifts walmart has tins for about 2-3 bucks each and the dollar store too)

• Go visiting at a senior center, bring a book and have your child read to the members, bring cookies, sign have fun.  Call visit and see the what the rules are.  I believe you want the Rec. Director when you call.  They can also help you visit those that don't get very many visitors.  I know many seniors would love this and children too. 

• Puzzles, pick up a few for the holidays and then spend a day as a family putting them together.  It's funny how something so simple can be so much fun.

• Weather permitting, have a snowball fight or get the neighborhood in on and it and have a block wide snowball fight, then have a hot chocolate bar to warm everyone up afterwards.

• Weather permitting, have a block wide snowman building contest, or coloring contest something that is fun.  Make the prize something simple.  The stuff to make smores or a tray of cup cakes or cookies.  It's just for fun remember.

• Now if you can't go out.  It's time to build FORTS and TENTS.  I have yet to meet someone who didn't have fun doing this.

• You could turn your living room into a drive in make cars out of boxes and have some yummy food and watch a good movie together.  Just a different take on family movie night.

• Read with your child, have them read to you.  Reading is fun.

• Plan a trip to the library.

• Have your children make and then fill out thank you cards.  Or spend the day scrapbooking memories from the holiday or the year leading up to the holiday.

I know it's a long list and I missed some.  Please add yours. 

How to get your children to keep reading and writing over the winter break.

I have fond memories as a child of winter break, from staying up to late to reading good books.  I even practiced writing my name.  I also watched way to much T.V.  but I also spent time with my family.  But I thought I would share some great ways to help your children to keep reading and writing over the break but to make them fun.

• Have you children make and write thank you cards.  I hate to say but this isn't something that I have done in the past and regret doing.  It wasn't something I was raised to do.  But this year we are starting it.  A few days after Christmas have your children start making thank you cards and help them write out a little note thanking the family member for their gift.  This lets them be creative by making the card, also thoughtful about the person that got them a gift, and it has them work on their writing skills.

•  Read holiday themed or any book aloud.   Reading out loud to your children is a great thing to do.  Even if you read just one short book to them it will help.  Did you know reading to children is something that less and less people are doing these days?  I don't like to read out loud but it's my goal to do it more.  Also have your child read to you as well.  This will help them with their reading skills and it will make them feel special.

• Write a winter break journal.  This is something great for those older children, just pick up a simple notebook or a nice special one and suggest that before bed they just write about their day, or their thoughts.  If they are really stuck (this is stolen from my step mom) have them write 5 things that they are grateful for that day.  These can be as big or as little as they want.  This could be fun and really get them thinking.

•  Have them help with the holiday menu.  My children love to help be it from reading a recipe to me to helping measure out ingredients for recipes.  This also helps with math skills.  Also having them follow the step in order teaches them following directions as well.  It's great how something so simple has baking cookies can be so educational.  You can also have them make menus for the holiday meal let them write out what your having and decorate them.  They can then put them on the holiday table.

• Have them help with the grocery list.  Before that last big shopping trip to the store for the holidays let your child help with the list.  Have them write out a part of the list for something that they want to make with you.  Like the items for making cookies.  And then make it their job to pick up those items at the store with your help.  This helps them with writing skills and their reading once they are the stop.  This would also be a great time to teach them about reading labels on products as well.

• Write their own holiday story.  Gather up some supplies to make your own book and have your child write their own holiday story.  This would be a great thing to do year have year and to save them.   And every year they can be one of the holiday stories that your read out loud during the holiday break.

•  Scrapbooking.  Now this isn't something that I have done in a long time but it is something I found fun.  You can have your children help you scrapbook your Christmas memories.  This lets them be creative and you can encourage them to write the captions on the pages which will work on their writing skill.

• Take a trip or two to the library.  I know everyone loves the feel a of new book.  I know that I do.  But there is something about a library and a child that is wonderful.  My children love love love the library.  To them it's like going to the store and really we sign out like every book we can and they read at least ten while we are there.  So take your child get them their own card if you can and teach them the love of the library.  Also find out about the library's story hours and holiday break programs.  They may have some that are fun and your child would like to try out.

• Don't be afraid of tech.  I know that there are children out there that think tech is the coolest thing in the world and the only thing that matters and that reading is boring.  I have a child like this.  I got him to love reading by putting his books on my ereader (I have a sony so pdf files work great for this).  I am also using it as a teaching tool.  There are many of the classics out there free like Alice in Wonderland, Robin Hood, White Fang and many more.  Also many of the bi g stores and ereader companies have software you can download on to the computer to read ebooks. Here is Nook for the PC, Kindle for PC, and Sony.  Some free classics to get you going. Free from Kindle, Nook, and Sony.  Other than a quick glance I didn't see tons for kinds but you can also barrow ebooks from the library so please look into that but this is a great start with the classics and some books for those older children in your home.  And some fun for yourself as well.

Now I am sure there are other ideas out there that I forgot.   I hope that this is a great jumping off point for you.  Reading is such a great thing and books are a great adventure parents and children alike.  I hope you have a great holiday season and winter break.

What do you get with one half pound of sauasge?

You get dinner for six.  Well ok you get the sausage in our gravy for dinner.  We had sausage gravy over biscuits for dinner.  This was easily under five dollars to feed us all.  I don't have the cost break down as I used left over frozen sausage I had in the freeze.  And I tried a new big biscuit recipe which you can find here.  These were very good but huge. One goes a long way.  I cheat and just use my cookie cutter and cut them into squares instead of rounds this way I handle the dough less.  These turned out to be about 1.5 - 2 inches high they started at an inch high.  I highly suggest you at least try them.  I did make a few changes, I used butter instead of shortening.  And I used 1/2 whole wheat flour and 1/2 unbleached AP flour (I have this premixed at in my flour container on the counter so everything is made with 1/2 WW flour).  Other than that it's all the same.

Excuse my cookie sheet it's a cheapie from the dollar store it does the job.

Then I just made a basic sausage gravy with sage, and peppers and onions since that was mixed in with my pre cooked sausage.  It's simple cook your meat,  once it's cooked if you have a lot of fat drain some off but you want some to use to make the rue.  (is that the right spelling?) cook that a little bit and then add some milk and your spices.  Let thicken and serve over yummy biscuits.

Now just add I nice side of fruit salad or some other nice fresh fruit or veggies and you have a great meal in our house.  It's a great way to feed a lot of people with a little bit of meat.  What is your favorite breakfast for dinner item?

One lasagna three meals

So to night we had the last of the lasagna for dinner with salad.  One pan of lasagna lasted for three meals for all of us.  We got two dinners and one lunch with it.  This isn't a meal I make all the time.  About once every couple months or so.

I didn't take any pictures but it was very close to the last one I blogged about that you can find here. I made this same size pan but cut our amounts down and added a salad.  I would say for each meal that we had we came in under $10 but I haven't done the math yet.  I will have to up date the post tomorrow when I do it.

One Turkey how many meals? Day Three Stock or Broth

We are talking Turkey stock or broth which from my research seem to be pretty much the same thing.  For two days I worked at making this stock and my house smelled great.  Like Thanksgiving turkey all day long.  Broth is something that is great for you, and easy to make.  So I thought I would share how I did it.  First off I read this great article on Cooking Traditional Foods you can also find them on Facebook here. The article is great and pretty much tells you how to do it step by step.  But I thought I would type up what I did with pictures because I am silly like that.

First thing I did was pick as much meat off the turkey bones as I could and then roast it.

I also pulled out the jars that had the drippings from when I roasted the turkey.

And then it was all into the pool, eh I mean stock pot.

Then I added water until it was covered and many I was lucky my pan was barely big enough.  Next time I will break the bones down more.  In all there was 2 gallons of water added to the pan.

Then I added the vinegar 2 tbsp per quart of water.

Then I let it sit for an hour to let the vinegar do it's thing.  After that I turn on the burner and brought it up to a simmer.  Once it was simmering I went to bed, I let it simmer for 30 hours (you can do more or less time this just worked this time for me.)

I then turned it off and picked out all the big pieces of bone and such.  Then I let it cool down a bit before straining it the first time.

My set up for straining, stock pot strainer, and a kitchen towel.

Straining the first time.

After straining it.

After I strained it I put it in the refrigerator over night.  So that the fat could get hard.

 

Then I used a spoon to skim the layer of fat off the top.  And strained it again.

The set up a bowl, kitchen towel and a strainer.

All strained and ready for storage.

At this point I was almost done, all I had last was to jar it up.  We reuse glass jars here so that's what I did.  I got six quart sizedish jars, (one is a pickle jar not sure about it's size) and half gallon or so in a ziploc bag (ran out of jars).  I labeled them and froze them.  I should be able to get a few meals out of this ALONE.  I can use this stock for soups, or just cooking my beans or rice in to give it added flavor.

 This is my best looking stock to date.

 The ziploc bag before it went in the freezer

Six yummy jars of turkey goodness.

The $20 I spent on this turkey has saved me already, from the two meals I have gotten plus a few days of sandwich lunches, plus all this stock is great.  I still have about 6 cups of dark meat in the freezer for other meals and ideas.  I can't wait to use them.  I am going to try some new recipes.  I hope this helps you out when you make stock.  It is easy I know it looks like a lot but the hard work is over you cooked the turkey and took the meat off the bones.   In all I would say my active time doing this was maybe an hour (I have small children so it was a stop and go thing sometimes)  that's straining it twice (over two days) and jarring it all up. Which would have taken less time had I had a funnel. LOL Instead I had to use a ladle to fill the jars up.

Homemade lasagna for .66 a slice.

I recently tossed my hand into trying to make homemade pasta.  And let me tell you when you can make lasagna for .66 a slice you can't beat it.  Also the noddles were made with wheat flour and AP flour.  Only thing I did wrong was have a couple thick spots.

As a child lasagna was something my mom only made like 3 times a year if we were lucky.  It always cost to much to make.  And for all my life I believed that.  But Monday I was sitting thinking about what to make for dinner and I wanted Lasagna but I didn't have ricotta or pasta for it.  So I looked around the house to see what I did have that I could use.  Well I had fat free cottage cheese that I had picked up when it was a $1,  and I have sauce 2.00 worth on hand.  And then one pound of ground beef from the butcher which was 2.38 I also had a pound of mozzarella cheese on hand.  which was 2.50 for the pound.  Thats it that's all I used and that equals what  about 7.88 for one big pan of lasagna that we got two meals out of?  I wonder what made it cost more to my mother.  I am going to ask her what she used.

Now the noddles were so easy to make and tasted like regular pasta to me.  Here is the recipe that I used. (I kind of used two different ones and came up with my own)

Homemade pasta with out a pasta machine

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 cups AP flour
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 3 tbls EVOO
• 8 large eggs

Mix all together and kned for about 5 minutes and then let it rest another five minute then I cut it into 6 equal size pieces and then I rolled them out with the rolling pin I had.  I rolled them the size of my pan and made just a single sheet for each layer.

This is really easy and you don't really need anything special you can use veggie oil if that's what you have too.  And then I just made my lasagna like normal but used the cottage cheese instead of the ricotta.  And let me tell you we didn't miss it.  So give the pasta recipe a try and let me know what you made with it and how you liked it.  I can't wait to try it again.

Fun times

It's been a week or so since I posted and I am sorry about that thinks have been a little crazy.  I have started working out more and everything plus it's summer I need to enjoy the kids.  But I thought I would pop on and share our dinner tonight it was pork chops, broccoli and my homemade perogies that I made before and froze and to be honest I think they cooked better this time.  Anyways it was a simple dinner.

Anyways hope this finds everyone well.  not sure what's for dinner tomorrow but we are shopping so I hope something new and light.

Tonights dinner was Goulash and Garlic bread under $5

Tonight's meal was a simple family favorite and it was pretty cheap here is the break down.

Ground beef from butcher 2.28 one pound
1 box past .19 (had $1 off coupon)
1 Large can organic diced tomatoes 1.79
1 half onion .15 (this is a high guess but it was a big onion)

Total for the Goulash $4.41

And the garlic bread was made with staples of yeast flour and water and salt, and of course butter and garlic powder the recipe I used can be found here it's the first one on the page.  I didn't make them into a loaf though I made some into knots.  And others I made into pull apart rolls.  To make them use your muffin pan and place three balls of dough into each cup and let it rise and then back at 375 till done. brush with melted butter with garlic powder and enjoy.

Sorry for the lack of post the last week I have been enjoying family but I am back on my cooking and posting thing.  tomorrow is pork tenderloin again with roasted veggies unless i figure out a different way to cook it have any ideas?

Wheat 5 minute a day bread

Ok so I took the popular 5 minute a day bread recipe and changed it for my family. And what worked for me.  I find it easy and tasty.  I have tried to get pics of most of the steps to help you out.

Ok a few things first before we get to baking.  Bread seems to be that thing that people are scared to try out and scared to do and think is really hard.  I disagree I think it's fun once you get the basics down.  And it's crazy to see how flour, water, yeast and salt can make so many different breads in and of themselves.  So let me give you some tips I have learned along the way.

• Always test your yeast there are many recipes that say to mix the yeast in with the flour. Especially if you are using instant yeast but I find you can save yourself lots of head if you make testing your yeast first.  It's simple just add your yeast to what ever your warm liquid that your recipe calls for.  In this one it's water.  Don't make it to hot but not too cool when starting out aim for 105 to 110 once you learn this temp you might just be able to know by touch.
• Next I always find that a tsp to a tbsp of sugar to feed your yeast is a great thing.  just add it to your water and let the yeast get happy.
• Never put your salt in your water with the yeast or your yeast on your salt always mix the salt into the flour before adding the yeast or add the salt while kneading if you can.  The salt will kill you yeast.  And that sucks.

Breakfast for dinner

Tonight's dinner was great and simple it was breakfast for dinner.  We had sage sausage gravy over biscuits and strawberries and lime juice.

I only have pictures of the biscuits today I just wasn't in the mood to take more.  And well I am not sure I will post a recipe yet as I am still work one out for the gravy and the biscuits are pretty basic.

I did try a new trick that I read somewhere and I froze the butter and shredded it on my hand grater.  This allowed me to mix the dough with less handling and I truly believe this helped make them lighter.  I also soured my milk this time. It's not something that I normally do but I wanted to try it this time these two little changes in my normal recipe made a huge difference. So I guess what I am saying is don't be afraid to change things up a little at a time.  You might find that one chance that makes something good great or easier as well.

Oh and so try slicing up strawberries and squeezing a lime on them.  This simple act just makes them better my kids thought it was wonderful and so crazy to do.

All this was under ten as most items were pantry items or items I have on hand all the time.  

Thanks for reading
Spirit

Steak and cheese hot pockets

These were so very very good.  See we bought chuck steaks from the butcher in a freezer pack and well we didn't know what to do with them until we thawed them.  So on fathers day we had the shepherds pie. With a cost of under ten.  Last night I took another chuck steak about 1 pound of meat and I turned it into these hot pocket like things.  Again for about 6 dollars we had a great meal.  We paired it with a big salad as to lighten it up and it was great.

Ok I don't really have a recipe for this but I will tell you what I did and if you have any questions please ask I will answer them as soon as I can.

First I started the chuck steak early in the day as it need to go low and slow to get nice and tender.  What I did was season it with our favorite spice (we used webers chicago grill mix) and then I added an onion and 1/4 green pepper and then some water.  The last things I added were A1 sauce (bold kind) and like 7-8 shakes of lea and perrins Worcestershire sauce.  And turned it down low and cook for a few hour until the meat pulled apart.

I let the meat cool (only because I didn't know when my husband was getting off work.) but you don't have to let it cool.  

Once I was cooking dinner I chopped up some peppers and onions and starting cooking them till soft and then I added the meat back to warm it up. 

Then I made a cheese sauce.  Just a basic one like you would make for mac and cheese. 

Then I made pizza crust (I used the packet kind from Betty Crocker) and found the trick is to let it sit about ten minutes before you start using it.  Then I just rolled out circles and put the cheese sauce on them and then the filling and then closed it up.  Some I rolled, some I just folded in half, and one I made into a pouch as I wanted to see which was worked the best.  They all worked fine so do what works for you.  Just remember like with the pizza rolls don't roll them out too thin or they will pop.  If you fold them in half like a half moon a small slit in the top to help them vent is a great idea.

Also make sure your seal them well I have learned putting a simple slit in the top will help stop the popping.

And that's it.  Next time I make them I will get a more recipe like format typed up to share but they are very easy.  In fact I have plans for other hot pocket like ones for our freezer as the left overs made a great lunch for my hubby with the salad we had.

I will get back to break downs of cost of meals next week.  Things are a little crazy here.  I am also thinking of making a list of what I think are pantry items and staples as I don't put these in my cost break downs and this list can be different for everyone.

Father's day Menu and recipes

As you may have read our fathers day was a great day.  I love cooking and did a lot that day and really it didn't cost much or take much time.  I haven't done the math but I know we had everything for 10 bucks or less.  The key is to have your stables and pantry stocked up like.  I always have eggs, milk, flour, butter and other supplies in the house I count these as my pantry items so they are never in the cost break down as I always buy them and keep them in stock.

MENU

Shepherds pie
Irish soda bread
Brownies with starwberries

Now I don't have a recipe for the shepherds pie as it was a kind of toss together meal.  But I do have recipes for the Irish soda bread.  This is a great bread to make when you don't have yeast or you don't have a ton of time to wait for bread to raise.  It's a good bread for with stews I think it's dense but yummy here is the recipe.

Preheat oven to 450Makes 1 2 pound round loaf  Ingredients4 cups flour ( I used AP and it was fine)1 tbsp sugar1/2 tbsp baking soda 1/2 tbsp baking powder1 1/2 cups water2 tsp vinegar (cider or white, I used cider)
Combine dry ingredients and set aside,  mix water and vinegar together.  Add the wet mix to the dry and mix.  Turn out on to floured surface and knead for 2 to 4 minutes don't over do it.  shape into a round loaf and cut an "x" in the top with a sharp knife. Bake for 40 minutes and remove while still hot pour 1 tsp melted butter over the top.  And enjoy.

Now we can move on to brownies.  These were yummy and so easy to put together like supper easy.  As easy as a box and I bet most of you have everything in you kitchen to make them tonight

Oh and they are super moist too

Homemade Brownies

1 cup melted butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 Cup flour or add 1/2 cup for cake like brownies
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix in the order given and bake at 350 for 20 - 30 minutes until tooth pick inserted into middle comes out clean.

You can tons of stuff to these nuts, chocolate chips or caramel (I did this)

These are prefect with berries have a bite of chocolate and then berry it is the best.  Enjoy!

Roasted Pork Terderloin with roasted carrots and homemade perogies all for $3.00 and recipe

Tonight my hubby was off from work and so I had more time in the kitchen so I thought I would make perogies.  It never fails that when I make them that they take all day to do as well.  Thing is I could break them up over a two day period but I never do I don't know why.  Perogies are easy to make they just take time.  You could do like I do and make a huge batch at a time and freeze them for a later time.  I will explain how later.

My recipe makes 3.5 doz perogies.  Here is what you need

6 cups AP flour
2 tsp salt (I used sea salt this is the only salt I use anymore it's about a med gran as well)
5 tble spoons butter
1 1/3 cold water (ice water even) you may need more it depends on how much water your flour soaks up you could use up to 2 cups.

Filling
I cheated with my filling and use instant mash.  You can use left over mash taters from another night or make your own for this if you make your own to make your dough better save some cooking water from the taters.

2 sm pkg instant mash
1 large onion chopped
1 head of garlic roasted
herbs of your choice
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoon butter

Ok depending on what kind of taters you use for your first step might depend on how you start this out.  If not using instant mash.  Start your taters first cook them like normal and save a little bit of the water for your dough.  While taters are cooking roast your garlic in the oven.  With a little evoo and wrapped in foil.  After garlic and taters are done mash them together and let your filling cool.  also place your water in the freezer to get cold.

Frozen Strawberry pops for about 2 bucks.

So in this 100 degree weather you need to keep cool so I thought I would make ice pops now I do have the store bought ones here to but they are full of sugar and I am trying to limit the amount of it.  I fail a lot of the time but I know my kids if I make something they will eat that over the premade stuff.

So I thought I would give those puree fruit pops a try I love these things but they are pricey to buy.  They are so easy to make. Now I have an ice pop maker (target 1 dollar) but you could make ice pops in so many things from paper cups to ice cube trays.  Even small glass jars with sticks in them.

Your next tool you will need is a blender or something else to puree the fruit I have a blender.  Next just puree your fruit I used frozen strawberries, and a little juice.  I added no sugar as I thought what was in the berries and the juice should be enough.  I used juice I had on hand as well which was apple juice.  Our pops were still a little tart but a huge hit.  My husband who doesn't really like the other kind loved these one.

I have plans for other kinds some using the stock of baby food I have on hand and others making some grown up flavors.  I will let you know.

Mmmm Bread

I love making homemade bread and today I made some my goal is to never buy bread again.  I am slowly there to be honest it's just some days I don't want to make it.

This is the bread I made today for dinner it's my own recipe.  it has a nice crunchy crust and a chewy texture.  I am still perfecting making bread but I think I am getting there.

So we had this yummy bread with pasta tonight for dinner not the healthiest think to eat and making bread on a 100 degree day isn't the smartest thing but it was yummy.  And still under ten bucks for the meal.

My Alice in Wonderland Chair and other finds.

It's been a few days since I last posted but it's been a fun crazy kind of day.  I will update my cheap meals later tonight but first you have to see the beauty I found today at the flea market. Well beauties to be exact.

Alice in wonderland chair

I have a love of Alice in Wonderland, and when I saw this chair I wanted it.  The lady wanted $20 for it and the foot rest.  I thought that was a deal but only had 15 on me.  We set a limit before we left the house and we stuck to it.    My sweet hubby went back to her after getting his bike to the car and said how bad I wanted it would she take 15.  And she did. She helped load it to and gave us rope to tie the bike down with so we could get everything home.  Three car seats don't leave much room for things sometimes.

I just love this chair and well so do the kids see for yourself.

My daughter seems to think it's her chair. 

Now I am not sure I will keep the foot rest or try and fix it.  it has a hole in it but is still useable.  I am going to have a research it.  Right now though I am thinking I will paint it.   It might stay in the house and it might go on the porch for some sitting and watching this kids play.  I am still thinking on it.  I do know I am going to ask hubby for some pretty throw pillows for my birthday for it.

This is the hubs find.  A huffy bike at the right size and everything for 15 bucks.  He has wanted a bike for awhile be we kept putting it off.  I am happy he has one and well if he rides it as much as he says he will I won't mind upgrading him later to a much nicer one.

 These are the candle sticks we got as well. I paid 5 bucks for all them I don't think I would have paid much more for them they are not old but they seem to be a of good not great but a good quality and I like them I just need to clean them up a bit.

Well this is all we got plus water and a sunburn you would think I would have learned by now that I burn.  overall I am very happy with everything and I hope to be able to paint the chair the weekend of the fourth.

Tonight made dinner for two families and it only cost me 5.10

So here is the story one of my husband's soldiers wife had a baby yesterday and they are first time parents and I thought I would be sweet and make them a meal.  So I made them a baked pasta meal and made one for my family they got enough for a meal or two and I had enough for our dinner and lunch tomorrow.  And all for five ten.  How did I do it coupons and sales and a little help from wic. 

2.80 For last nights dinner or Pizza rolls and salad

Last nights dinner was late and filling it was pizza rolls and spinach salad.  And it cost us 2.80 but could have cost us up to 5.30.

Cost break down:

3 pkg pizza dough = .69

Cheese = up to two 2.50 or free with wic

1/4 jar of pasta sauce .21 

Bag of spinach .65 (thanks to a fb coupon I saved $1)

Green Pepper .50

Cucumber .50  

Tomato .25