Sew Easy Four-C Soup

Ok, it's not really sew easy, but it is so easy! I just had to add something about sewing into the title because I'm feeling guilty about not touching my sewing machine in weeks. I packed it away when I was cleaning for my friend's shower, and I hate to admit it, but I kind of like how clean it is when the sewing stash is put away. No more little threads on the carpet. No mile high stashes of fabric strewn about. I can actually eat on the dining room table because it's cleared off. *Sigh*

In other news, our levy went down yesterday which means the RIF letter I received several weeks ago will now be finalized. Jason is really stressing out about having to live on just his paycheck, but I think we can make it just fine. We have one year of his salary saved up in the bank as a rainy day fund... I'd say it's raining! I figure that when God closes a door, he opens a window; we just don't know what that window is just yet. Honestly, I'd like to try to make it without even touching our savings (and in fact, growing our savings).

They say your house payment can be as high as about one third of your income. Jason makes what I made when I started teaching and first bought the house, so we should be fine there. The only problem is that I was only one person, and now there's three people living on the same amount of money. With my frugalness, though, I think I can make it happen.

No more going out to eat, for starters! (Not that we really went out to eat very much anyway). I've been on a cooking rampage these past few days. I made (1) apple pie bread pudding. In case you're wondering, that's bread pudding with a diced up apple in it, but it wasn't sweet enough so I added a jar of pie filling on top. (2) Pepperoni and vege lasagna... yum! (3) Bacon and Egg Brunch Casserole (4) Homemade Vege Soup.

I bought a 1/2 gallon of milk that was almost to its sell-by date since it was marked down to 59c. I then had to come up with some recipes to use up this milk. I also had a head of cabbage to use up, as well as a dozen eggs, half a loaf of wheat bread that was getting stale, some celery, and an opened package of pepperoni. Other items in the fridge that need used up but will have to wait a few days include an opened jar of barbecue sauce and some sour cream.

Anyway, I knew I was going to make some sort of creamed cabbage when I found a recipe online for cream of cabbage soup. I can't follow a recipe to save my life, so I of course altered it to use up things I have on hand. It called for cream- I used my about-to-expire milk. Actually, I pretty much concocted my own recipe altogether because I didn't have what it called for on hand. The roux is the only thing I kept the same, except I halved it because I didn't want to clog my arteries with a whole cup of butter. Soup is supposed to be healthy, right?! Here's what I did in case you're wondering- it's really quite tasty! I can't wait until lunch so I can have some more :)

I boiled the rest of the celery in 2 cups of chicken broth. Meanwhile, I chopped up the cabbage and added it to the broth. Next in was a can of corn and a bag of frozen cauliflower. At this point I realized all the veges in this soup started with the letter "C." This wasn't planned but I thought it was funny so I named it Four-C soup!

I also threw in two packages of onion soup mix, some garlic powder, and dill (the original recipe actually did call for dill). While that was cooking down, I made a roux with half a cup of butter and half a cup of soy flour (though of course you could use regular flour). To that I added two cups of milk and two more cups of chicken stock. Oops, I lied. I ran out of chicken boullion so I used shrimp boullion instead.

Don't tell my husband. He hates seafood.

Once thickened, I added the roux mixture to the soup and simmered on low for about five or ten more minutes. Very delicious!

Clipping Coupons and CVS-ing

My son was baptised this weekend at the same church that my grandpa, dad, and I were all baptised. Four generations :)

The church is up near my grandma's house... trips to Grandma's mean one thing: lots of coupons she's saved for me! I decided that I needed a new method for storing coupons, so I emptied out an old photo album from high school, and slipped the coupons into the slots. Voila! A coupon album :) I probably look like a freak carrying it with me in the grocery stores, but at least I'm a freak who's saving money.

So here's how CVS-ing worked out for me today: Frosted Flakes and Frosted Mini Wheats were three for $10, but you earn five bucks in Extra Care Bucks (ECBs) at the end of the transaction so really it's like spending five dollars. Couple that with coupons for all three boxes of cereal, and you get all three for a mere two dollars (after ECBs).

I also bought my hubby some Adidas deodorant- after ECBs and my coupon it was 99c. Colgate toothpaste was $2.99 but after ECBs and a coupon it was free :) All in all, I earned eleven ECBs today at CVS and used five $1 coupons.

Walgreens had similar sales in which I got a large bottle of Nivea men's body wash completely free, some Right Guard deodorant free, and two bottles of Pert Plus for fifty cents each. We now have seven or eight bottles of Pert under the sink. I think Jason is going to kill me.

I also used lots of coupons at Kroger. I got a heck of a deal on Cottonelle TP (the 12 double rolls). I bought eight packs. (Yes you read that right). Not to mention, earlier in the day I got a 9 roll of Charmin Basic for Jason (that's what he likes). So I now have nine packs of toilet paper and absolutely no where to store them. They'll just have to hang out in my car for awhile until we make room in the house. I'm probably going to get pulled over by some cop who thinks I'm going to go TP someone's house.

The other day I took advantage of the Special K sale at Target. You had to buy five boxes of Special K, and you received a five dollar gift card. I now have almost fifteen boxes of cereal in this house (remember I also bought Frosted Flakes and Frosted Mini Wheats, plus our cereal cupboard was already full before I went on this cereal rampage).

You can never have too much cereal, you know. At least that's what I'm telling myself these days.

Actually, ever since Jason has been on this funky shift at work, and he's been waking up at 11 am (heaven forbid he would miss the Price is Right), he's been eating cereal for lunch. I made tasty Pepperoni and Vege Lasagna the other day, and I've been the only one eating it because he keeps choosing cereal. Hmpf!

I kind of fell off the "Green Smoothie" train, unfortunately. I made a sweet potato and pear smoothie (not really green however, sweet potatoes are considered a super food), and it was really good. I discovered though, that it tastes even better warmed. I added extra milk so it was very liquidy. I popped it in the microwave and it was delicious! Don't forget to add spices like cinnamon and nutmeg :) This is the perfect warm drink to enjoy around a campfire on a chilly spring evening. Tomorrow I'm planning on making strawberry banana smoothies because I have two bananas that are going bad.

In other news, tomorrow the voters will decide if I keep my job or not. *Fingers crossed*

Let Us Eat Lettuce: Green Smoothie Challenge

This past weekend was my friend's wedding shower at my place. It was a huge success :) Everyone commented on how they loved my basement and what a great space it is (I must say that I agree! It was 85 degrees on the main level of the house, but I bet the basement was 15 degrees cooler. It felt so nice!)

It was also fairly green. We only had to throw away napkins and waxed paper. I used my glasses and silverware; the pop bottles were recyclable (both glass bottles and plastic two liters). I had thrifted disposable wine glasses to use for the smoothies. I washed and kept them though (with the exception of one that broke and got thrown away). I also used the reusable burger baskets (lined with waxed paper) so there was no paper plates to throw away.

Here are some photos of the day:

The bride-to-be showing off the "french fry" cake I made

The divas... This outfit was definitely not flattering on me. I'm in need of losing weight (30 pounds, eek!) however I look even fatter than I actually am in this photo...

... which brings me to my next topic: losing weight.

I am taking the fourteen day Green Smoothie Challenge. It all began when I wanted to come up with a recipe to use up a little lettuce before it went bad. My husband's grandma loves to cook it in oil and eat it wilted. I don't think I can stomach that, so I called up my good buddy Google. He helped me find other ways to use up lettuce. Some people recommended blending it up and putting it in soup. That sounded good, however we have so many leftovers that I didn't want to make another main dish.

Next up: green smoothies. Sounds interesting. Just throw a bunch of raw veges in the blender, and voila, a good-for-you smoothie. I threw in the lettuce, some grapes that were a tad past their prime, three oranges, and milk.

(And a scoop of ice cream). Shhh, please don't tell on me.

It was a little pulpy. Ok, it was a lot pulpy. Jason had a sip and wouldn't drink it because it was so pulpy. It really doesn't taste too bad though, so I have thirteen more days to go. We'll see how much weight I lose. Today I weighed 175, just so you know. I still have to lose thirty pounds of baby weight to be down to a weight that looks good on me. (And just for reference, my son is 10 weeks old, and I've already lost 33 pounds. I doubt the next 30 pounds will be as easy to lose though!)

Wish me luck!

And just for fun, here's two photos of me... one before pregnancy, and one taken two weeks before Joel was born.

You can't beat my Receipts

My husband got put on the night shift. He's been there longer than anyone else in the whole department, but he's the one who got screwed. He has also maxed out on his raises which pisses me off to no end that companies are allowed to do that. He thinks that his bosses are trying to get him to quit because he makes so much and is cutting into their bonuses.

His hours really suck, and this is only the fifth night of it. I know things could be a lot worse, like he could not have a job at all, he could be in Iraq and we wouldn't see each other for a year or so... but it still sucks. Ok, enough complaining.

I've been reading alot of blogs tonight, and I'm amazed at finding many blogs from people who write about their trip to the grocery store or drug store, and how much they've saved.

I love being frugal. I'm the first to admit that I'm a total cheap skate. So since I'm bored and husbandless and can't sleep, I think I will go through my wallet and look at old receipts. Not only will I look at my old receipts, but I also will write about them.(I have hit rock bottom, haven't I?) Let me first preface this by saying that my receipts are nowhere near as impressive as those people who really know how to work the system (like this gal). They can go into CVS and rack up Extra Care Bucks, stack coupons, and overall piss off cashiers so that they walk out with two hundred dollars worth of stuff for a nickel.

First receipt: Bed Bath, and Beyond. I bought a shower gift for a friend with a coupon. The gift was $32, and the coupon was for ten bucks off a thirty dollar purchase. Woot, woot!

Second: Aldi Grocery Store- twenty two bucks. I love Aldi, but I don't think they take coupons. They also don't accept credit cards which keeps cost down. That kind of sucks though because I generally charge everything so I can get money back. Every couple months I get a fifty dollar check back from my credit card company. I have never carried a balance, so they don't get any interest from me, yet I'm making money. They probably hate me.

Third receipt- fifteen dollar prescription from CVS. I had $14.35 left on a gift card from my last trip to CVS. I got that $25 gift card for getting a new prescription filled. Sweet. I had to pay a whopping 65c for my prescription.

Fourth receipt- a little over a hundred dollars at the post office. I bought twelve books of forever stamps since postage is going up again. The cashier probably thought I was getting married or something and needed all those stamps for invitations. Nope. I'm just hoarding the stamps, that's all.

Fifth receipt- Kohls. I bought three items of clothing, all on clearance, for a total of $14.70. I only went in because I had a coupon for ten free bucks, so I had to pay $4.70 for my purchases. I had a gift card from Christmas to cover it, so I actually paid nothing. I have over thirty bucks left on the gift card, too!

Sixth receipt- Babies R Us. I bought a box of huggies because there was a five dollar off coupon in the mail. It still came to $31 but I had a gift card from my shower to cover the cost. Cha-ching! I'm also looking into The Caregivers Marketplace, which gives you 75c back for every box of Huggies you buy (though I think it's only for the Jumbo packs, and I buy bigger boxes than that). Also, I am in the process of getting a frequent flyers card from Babies R Us for buying so many Huggies. I think the deal is buy nine boxes and get the tenth one free.

Seventh receipt- Target. I bought a thirteen dollar rug for a friend's shower gift. I had a gift card to cover that also, so I still didn't have to pay for it out of pocket :)

Eighth receipt- Sears. I bought a chemise on clearance for my friend's birthday. It was only five dollars because all clearance was an additional 50% off. (It's the same friend who's getting married, so I figured it would be nice for her honeymoon!)

And that's it. Too bad I didn't have my latest Kroger receipt still in my purse. I totally scored last time I was there. One of the things I was excited about was that I had a coupon for a razor or replacement blades ($4 off). It turns out, the razor with five blades included was on sale and was cheaper than if I had just bought the four pack of blades. I gave the razor to a friend because I didn't need a second one but kept the four blades. Oh yeah, and it also rang up wrong, I caught the mistake, and so they had to knock another five dollars off (that's their policy for wrong prices). You have to really watch because I find so many mistakes. It helps that I practically have a photographic memory for prices. I can't remember my husband's birthday, but I can remember how much Crest toothpaste costs according to the weekly circular!

Oh, by the way, those receipts were not all from one day! Those were a weeks' worth or so. Notice there wasn't a single thrift store receipt. I haven't been to the thrift stores for at least a week. I'm feeling the itch but am trying to hold out until Wed. This is the last Wed. of the month so two of the three chains are having their big "Half Off" sale. The other chain is having their half off sale tomorrow.

I'm so excited about these upcoming half off sales. The only thing that could make it more exciting is if thrift stores started accepting coupons! Actually, come to think of it, when I was in right before Easter, they had a special Easter egg promotion going on. You got to draw an egg from the basket right before you checked out. Inside the egg was a certain percentage off. I only got 10% but that's better than nothing!

I'm willing to bet that all this talk about thrifting will now probably make me dream about it. How much do you want to bet? Five dollars and that cute owl figurine you thrifted last week?

I'll take that bet and raise you a thrifted set of encyclopedias that's only missing G, M, and W!

Rabbit Eulogy

My pet rabbit passed away back in October. At the time, I was still suffering from morning sickness and wasn't in a bloggy mood. I was reading a blog by Queen of Fifty Cents (my personal hero, by the way) and she mentioned Joe the Rabbit (not to be confused with Joe the Plumber). That reminded me that I never did give Licorice the Rabbit a proper eulogy.

Licorice was a good rabbit. I got him back in 2000, and at the time he was one year old. I adopted him from the House Rabbit Society. In order to adopt a rabbit from them, you have to agree to keep the rabbit indoors. Rabbits are people too, and they deserve a nice warm home, not a cold wire hutch! (What do you mean rabbits aren't people?! Licorice was pretty sure he was a person). The House Rabbit Society even did a home visit like they were Children's Services or something. They wanted to make sure I indeed had him inside and was treating him right.

I've had five rabbits in my life. Our first was named Pugs, then came Cuddles, and then Rocket (got him on the fourth of July), and then Marble. Those were all family pets growing up. (Licorice was my pet I got in college). They all lived long and happy lives. Pugs wasn't an indoor bunny (I confess... we did the hutch thing back in the mid-80s). Cuddles started out as an indoor bunny but when he chewed a hole through my 4th grade cheerleading uniform, that was the last straw. He then had to go outside to live in Pugs' old hutch.

Rocket and Marble were 100% indoor bunnies. We actually had them at the same time. Funny story. We already had had Rocket for a year, and my brother wanted to play one of those games at the fair where you can win a rabbit. My mom said sure since she knew he wouldn't win. Wrong. First try and we're bringing home another rabbit. They died several years ago, both at the age of eight. My mom had them cremated, and she keeps the ashes in urns in her bedroom. I am not kidding.

Back to Licorice. He started out being caged because in college, my roommates had two dogs and two cats. We only let them out to be together when we were around. I realized this too was cruel and so when we were out of school and into our current house, I got rid of the cage and he had free reign of the kitchen.




It was like that until the day he died. His death came quickly. He had been having some hind leg problems for some time, however one night I came down to the kitchen to find he had fallen over and couldn't get back up. I stayed up with him instead of going back to bed for awhile and kept petting him and talking to him. I figured we'd go through that stage for awhile and he would keep falling over, and I would keep putting him back on his feet. The next morning he was tipped over again, but this time he could not stand on his legs, even after I put him upright. He was very lethargic. I called off work, balling my eyes out to the secretaries, and took him to the vet. She said his condition was severe. His heart-rate had slowed way down, and she said he was basically giving up. She said I could try some lifesaving measures but there was no guarantee that they would work, or she could euthanize him. I decided that he had lived a good life and that the humane thing to do would be to let him go. His back legs were a constant pain to him, and he wouldn't have to be in pain any longer. I tearfully kissed him on the nose, and she took him away. She brought him back in a little box with a Lily on it. Jason buried him in the backyard, and we put a tombstone-looking bunny statue over his grave.

Are you teary eyed yet?

Well here's a funny story about him that will make you smile. A couple years ago, our garbage disposal broke and my father-in-law came over to install the new one I bought. Since Licorice lived in the kitchen, he felt the need to investigate the tool box. He kept hopping in it, and I kept shooshing him out. Finally I gave in and let him sit in the tool box. Turns out, he just wanted to pee in the toolbox! Luckily my father-in-law is used to pets and so he didn't really mind!



One more funny story before I call it a night. Licorice had a baby gate to keep him in the kitchen, however sometimes we took it down. He still knew that he wasn't supposed to leave the kitchen, and when he did all you had to do was look at him and he took off running back to the kitchen. One day I was drinking a glass of ice tea, and I sat it down on the steps for a minute. Next thing I know I see Licorice with his little head shoved down in my glass of ice tea! When I yelled, "Licorice!!" he took off running down the stairs and back into the kitchen.

What a little stinker!
Licorice, I miss you, you naughty little rabbit. May you rest in peace in your clover field in the sky.

Cabinets, Schnabinets

Yes, folks, it's the long awaited light-blue-kitchen-cabinets-that-look-pretty-damn-white-to-me post.














I just had to throw in a picture of some thrifted milk glass spice containers and rack. I still need to put on labels because I took off the old nasty ones and ran them through the dishwasher. Does anyone have any ideas about how to put on the labels? Should I buy some plain labels at Staples or Office Max and then print out some of my own with cool fonts?

Speaking of fonts... this is pretty cool. You can go here and complete a couple steps and come up with your own font from your handwriting. I did it, and it's pretty neat.

If Only I Could Knit...

then I would totally make my brother this hat for his birthday:

Thank you Extreme Craft for bringing this awesome hat to our attention. I don't know how I've been on this planet for 3 decades without ever having seen or heard of a beer hat. I now feel complete.

I think I would have picked yarn to match the can. Don't you think it would look just smashing with red and blue yarn?

And then of course there's always the crocheted beer clothing at stitchymcyarnpants.com.


Too bad my brother's girlfriend just had her birthday. I think they'd love to go clubbing together decked out in this apparel, don't you?