Memorization Monday - Take the challenge, week one

Our pastor challenged us to either get better at or start memorizing Scripture. I used to be very good at this when I was young, but have slacked off the past few years. I am going to use my blog as a way to keep me accountable in this area. This week’s verse to memorize is Psalm 119:2. Here it is in various versions. Pick the one you would rather use.

Start by reading the verse and praying about it. Then write it down on a 3 x 5 card and carry it with you or keep it in your car. Look at it as often as possible and repeat it whenever you can. Pick an accountability person to say it to at the end of the week. Make sure the person is responsible to actually hold you accountable. If you are so inclined please leave me a comment about how you memorize Scripture and what way works best for you.

Psalm 119:2

Blessed are they who keep his statutes
and seek him with all their heart.
(New International Version)

How blessed are those who observe His testimonies,
Who seek Him with all their heart.
(New American Standard Bible)

Blessed are they that keep his testimonies,
and that seek him with the whole heart.
(King James Version)

Blessed are those who keep His testimonies,
Who seek Him with the whole heart!
(New King James Version)

Menu Plan Monday, Week of July 6

Here we go again! More meals from my Master Meal List. Again I have updated it. I think I will be doing that frequently until I get it exactly like I want it. Some recipes follow.

Stir Fry/Main Dish Salad/Freezer Meal - Mom's Beef and Noodles, black eyed peas, salad and strawberries

Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn, salad (my husband's favorite meatloaf recipe) and blueberry cobbler

Fish/Lentils/Meatless - Lentil quiche (Sounds weird, but we are going to try it)

Italian Night - Garlic butter pasta with chicken and broccoli and some kind of fruit

Homemade Pizza and salad

Then we usually have one leftover night and one really easy night like popcorn and sandwiches.

Mom’s Beef and Noodles

1 lb. Round steak (I’m using beef tips)

1 pkg Egg Noodles

1 pkg Beef gravy mix

4 cups Water

Put meat in crock pot. Add about 4 cups of water and beef gravy mix. Cook on low 6-8 hours or on high 2-3 hours. Cook egg noodles according to package directions. Pour meat and gravy over egg noodles and serve.

Garlic Butter Pasta with Chicken and Broccoli

I just make this up as I go so it is not really accurate as far as measurements.

Dice and cook chicken in a pan drizzled with olive oil until chicken is no longer pink. Cook broccoli in microwave or on pan until tender. Cook pasta according to package directions. Sauté ½ clove of garlic in 2 Tablespoons of butter. Drain pasta and add it to the garlic and butter. Add more 2-3 more Tablespoons of butter and add in the chicken and broccoli. That is it. This is also one of my husband’s favorite meals.

For more menu ideas visit Orgjunkie.com.

Make It Yourself . . . Hamburger Help"er" Mixes

I did get some Hamburger Helper on sale and have been using that up a little bit at a time. I did some research to find these mixes that you could make yourself. Here are a few below. Also, see my post here for an update of the dish washing detergent.

This is from Thrifty Fun

Homemade Ground Beef Helper
2 c. nonfat dry "instant"milk
1 c. cornstarch
1/4 c. unsalted chicken or beef bouillon powder
2 Tbsp. onion flakes
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp.dried thyme
1 tsp. black pepper
2 Tbsp. dried parsley
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
Mix the ingredients together and store in an airtight container. Use as base mix for hamburger helpers.

Chili Tomato Mac
Brown 1 pound ground beef or turkey, drain off fat
Add 1 c. water, 1 and one half cups uncooked macaroni, 2 (15 oz) cans diced tomatoes, 1 Tbsp chili powder, and 1/2 cup of the "Helper Mix". Simmer covered about 20 minutes or until macaroni is tender. Serves about 4 persons.

I found a few other really good recipes at "Mama Says". She has a lasagna style, cheeseburger style, taco style and stroganoff. You can find them here.

I found another link that I like about Hamburger Helper Mix in a jar. Check it out here.

For more ideas as to what you can Make Yourself, visit Centsible Shopper.

Savings Saturday

So, I do have pictures, but my sister is suppose to load them and send them to me since we took them with my step mom's camera. So, they may be up later, and they may not. She's planning a wedding and she cannot think straight these days. Also, I was so excited because I went to the CVS by my dad's house (not my usual one) and they had the Coppertone Water Baby sunscreen sticks for $4.49 and they worked for the $10.00 deal. It was so exciting. (I know, I need help).

You can also see my Wal-mart deal that I did this week here.

CVS Transaction #1:

1 Hershey’s Special Dark Bar at $0.50
1 Mounds Bar at $0.50
1 Trident Peppermint gum at $1.49 - $1.00 in ECB back
2 CVS Panty liners at $.99 each - $0.99 in ECB back each = $1.98
2 CBS Tampons 5 ct at $1.49 each - $1.49 in ECB back each = $2.98
1 CVS Facial Wipes at $2.99 - $1.00 in ECB back
2 Coppertone Water Baby Sunscreen Sticks at $4.49 each = $10.00 in ECB back

Used $2.00 off coupon from CVS brand Beauty
Used $16.00 ECB’s from spring spending

Total OOP: $1.52
Total ECB’s back: $16.96

CVS Transaction #2:
2 Dawn Ultra Dishwashing liquid (see all the uses for the original blue Dawn here) at 2/$2 - $1.00 in ECB back
1 Swiffer Starter Kit at $7.99 - $5.00 ECB back when you buy $10 of Swiffer
1 Swiffer Refill at $5.99
2 Sure deoderants at $2.99 each - $3.00 ECB back when you buy 2 deoderants

Used 2 $1.00 off Sure coupons (plus sending in for the rebate B1G1)
Used $1.00 off Swiffer
Used $15.96 in ECB

Total OOP: $3.42
Total ECB’s back: $9.00

I went with my step mom “T” today. We had fun. Yes, at CVS. She did 3 transactions. I won’t list all of them here, but we totaled up what her purchases were worth and they were $53.10. She only spent $5.75 out of pocket, and she got $1.00 in extra bucks to spend for next time. She had to make a $19.00 purchase that gave no extra bucks so I say that she did an excellent job!

Also, I did go to Meijer this past week. I spent $55.50 and I saved $38.00. The list is just too long to type up.

Freedom Friday

On this Fourth of July I, as many others, am thankful for freedom. I am so thankful for the men and women who have fought and died for our freedom. We can go to our barbeques and see our fireworks. Thank you!

I went to see an adaption of the musical 1776 last weekend. I forget how incredible it was that we became a nation. We have now been a Republic for over 200 years. While America is not perfect, we are an example and we should do our best to be a good example for the world to follow.

Close to Free stuff

Thanks to Money Saving Mom and the Sunday paper I got all of this for $1.12 (before tax).

These are the deals that I did straight from Money Saving Mom’s website. To the right of the item I put the price that they were at my area Wal-mart.

Zantac 8ct - $3.98 Actual price: $4.23
Use $5/1 on Zantac here
Free plus possible overage after coupon!

(3) 10-pack Schick disposable razors - $1.99 Actual price: $1.97
Use $2/1 Schick razor coupon from a recent RedPlum insert
Free after coupon!

Powerade is $0.75 Actual price: $0.60
Use the $0.75/1 coupon from insert two weeks ago
Free after coupon!

Gold Bond Lotion (trial size) - $0.99 Actual price: $0.97
Use $1/1 coupon here
Free after coupon (Thanks, Wendy!)

(2) Johnson's Buddies - $0.94-$0.97 each Actual price: $0.94
Buy 2 and use this $2/2 coupon here or buy 1 and use this $1/1 coupon here
Free after coupon!

(4) Travel-sized (16-ct.) Kotex - $1 Actual price: $1.00
Use the $1/1 coupon here or from the May issue of All You
Free after coupon! (Thanks, More Than Enough!)

K-Y Jelly (2 oz.) - $2.59 Actual price: $2.64
Use the $3/1 coupon from a recent insert
Free plus possible overage after coupon (Thanks, Anna!)

(2) Farmland Ham regular price $2.88 Actual price: $2.88
Use $2/1 off Farmland Ham from 05/04 SmartSource insert
$0.88 after coupon (Thanks, Denise!)

I also purchased 5-pack lemonade for $0.86. The total was approximately $28.21 when she rang it up before coupons. After coupons, it came to $1.12 before tax. Of course tax was $1.42 so I ended up paying $2.54 for everything.

I took my husband so he could see how it works and he was very happy. Also, he kept me on track to only buy the basically free things on my list

Also, there is a picture of an iced coffee from Starbucks. Apparently, Indiana and Georgia residents got cards in the Sunday paper that allow a free hot coffee or iced coffee everyday until July 14^th so we took advantage of this on the way home!

Works for Me Wednesday . . . Recipes with 5 or less ingredients

Here are links to several recipes that I have previously posted that actually have 5 ingredients or less and they are homemade!

Alfredo Sauce
Freezer Smoothies
Honey Mustard Vinaigrette
Really Easy Breakfast Casserole
Tortillas

For more recipes go to Rocks in My Dryer.

Once A Month Cooking Club

I have mentioned before that I am part of a Once A Month Cooking (OAMC) Club. This is how it works:

There are 7 ladies involved (including myself).

You cannot be too picky although you can say if you would prefer not to have any onions or a certain meat.

We each cook 7 4-serving meals and freeze them. One of the meals we keep for ourselves and the rest we bring to the club.

We meet the second Thursday of every month for a few hours. This is usually in the evening because we have stay-at-home moms and working women too.

We talk and chat. Lately, we have been doing different things. One meeting, we cooked side dishes together to go with our meals. This month we are doing a sewing project - a simple bag. Last month we had planned to go strawberry picking but then it rained and actually flooded some parts of our area.

We always bring coolers and before we leave we exchange our meals and a copy of the recipe. We each have a white three-ring binder to hold all of our recipes. We try to do a theme month but we rarely stick to it.

So, then we each go home with 6 different meals (plus the one we cooked for ourselves). That is almost enough meals to have 2 a week for a month. Obviously we need to have one more member to make it even.

Here is a link to our blog. It isn't updated very much, but I am trying to be better about it.

Let me know if any of you do anything like this.

Here are some things that we have found:

-Always use disposable packaging.

-Lay things flat to freeze if they are in a gallon-size resealable bag.

-Make things that are not too complicated to reheat.

-Try a recipe yourself before you make it!

For more kitchen tips check out Tammy's Recipes.